World Building (WormMLP Alt power)
by Stravick Ovmahn
Summary: A Worm Alt!Power where Taylor is an Alicorn filly! Taylor's talent? Escalation obviously. What does she do? Burn the wormverse to the ground with the power of friendship. Fun. Going to do some cool things with this, including giving Panacea an actual good character arc.
1. Chapter 1

Earth Bet was an interesting place. Plenty of people, really big, endless amounts of conflict. But most importantly, just the right amount of capes for a certain draconequus to take notice.

Discord had been having some tea at Fluttershy's house and on a whim, decided he was bored because of the whole reformation shtick. To balance out the fact he was, officially, on the side of Celestia, it only made sense for him to cause a touch of chaos. Just enough to make things right again of course.

But he couldn't do it in Equestria, that would get noticed. So he poked his head out of that world a moment and start looking around. Eventually, he stumbled upon a curious little universe, one with its own multiverse inside of it. And what he found inside one of the most prominent of those mini-universes was too good to pass up.

Humans. Billions of them, all too accepting of a very odd group of people. But only when they were odd in a very specific way. Upon further inspection, Discord found this world to be much darker than Equestria. It amused him and a plan began to form in his mind.

Reaching out Discord found a golden figure that seemed to be at least partially responsible for this and plucked a shard out of him. Observing it, Discord found he couldn't really understand it. It wasn't magic, but it wasn't quite science either. Shrugging it off, he reached back over to Equestria and started plucking some hairs.

A heaping side of chaos magic later and Discord had something that was neither magical nor science, nor… anything else that could be explained he guessed. It was perfect.

Now all he needed was someone to shove this into. Someone with an already low self-esteem so they would simultaneously get destroyed and hopeful with his gift. Someone with issues with self-image so they would be equal parts horrified and grateful of his change. Someone with a mind capable of handling it all.

He found his target, sitting at an out-of-date laptop in her room looking at some sort of online message board. Even better, she already had a shard within her, inactive. He plucked it out of her mind and fed it to his abomination of a shard before shoving it back in her mind and body. Now, to find the perfect way to kick start his new shard.

Discord grinned as he found what he was looking for and willed some pop corn into existence and then a theatre chair.

"Oh boy, this is going to be good!" He said, throwing some pop corn down his throat.

It had been another long and irritating day at school. I sighed, tossing my back onto my bed. They had destroyed my mother's flute today. Stolen it right out of my locker and did who knows what to it. I was going to have to stop using it, maybe find another place to store my stuff. I certainly couldn't change them finding the notebook I recently began cataloguing their exploits against me. It was pretty light now, but I was certain it would build up over time. Then, I could use it. I wasn't sure how yet, but someday, somehow.

I opened the laptop my mother had made sure to get me and let its old systems boot up while I went and made myself some tea. When I had come back, it was ready for use.

Sitting down, the first thing I did was open up the PHO and look for any new activity in the city. Nothing just yet. But there was another story of Panacea healing yet another child with some sort of genetic defect. I skimmed over it, there were far too many articles like that to dwell on. But as I passed over, I noted that it had a picture attached of Panacea standing next to the family she helped. She didn't look well.

I had read that she couldn't use her power on herself so I guessed she could have been coming done with the flu or something, but the way her eyes were sunken in was somewhat concerning.

Moving on, I search local news for anything of note. But just like my search before, nothing turned up. No major cape battles, no large gang movement. Just an average day in Brockton Bay. Disappointing.

I reached for my tea, deciding it had enough time to cool as I had scrolled through the web pages. As I raised it to my lips, a headline caught my eye. Because of that, I was momentarily distracted and didn't think about testing to see if my tea was actually cool enough and ended up taking a large sip.

I spluttered incoherently as I spat out the scalding tea as it burned the inside of my mouth and I resisted the urge to swear, afraid the words would make my tongue hurt more. And then it hit me like some really weird emotional tidal wave. At that instance, burning my tongue was the worst thing in the world and no matter how I tried I couldn't think of anything much worse than it.

It was horrible, absolutely inexcusable! My mouth, my tongue, burned at the hands of some bitter leaf juice! It didn't even taste that good!

I clamped my mouth shut and moaned loudly in pain as I curled up into a ball on the floor. I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my fists, shaking as pain and rage ran through me. It took me some time to to get over the pain enough to stop groaning aggressively, but even then it took me at least twenty minutes to open my eyes. But even then it wasn't because I had become acclimated to the pain, it was because I realized I couldn't feel my toes. Or my hands. Or the draft that normally flowed through my room. Or the hard wood floor beneath me, instead I was feeling some sort of carpet when I know I didn't have one.

I forced my eyes open as soon as I realized all of this and the pain faded from my mouth as if that was all I needed to do in the first place. I blinked and tried to raised a hand to my face. I didn't have a hand.

I bit back a terrified scream as I looked at the… hoof that now stood at the end of my arm. Or leg now, I guess. Looking down I saw I had two more hind legs, each coated in a rich white fur.

A little unsteadily, I rose to my feet, or hoofs now. It was surprisingly easy to move them, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Basic knowledge on how to move the muscles was more intuitive. If it wasn't someone would have to explain basic arm movements to kids just for them to learn how to lift a block.

But being able to move my legs was different from being able to know how they should move. I collapsed on my face in the first few steps before pushing myself back up and deciding to master that art of standing before moving on to basic steps.

I looked around the room and got a sense of scale. The bed was taller than me, as was the dresser. It was hard to tell like this, but if I had to guess I was about one to two feet tall at best.

Great, I was not only a horse, but a midget one too.

After I decided I had gained enough balance I decided I would attempt a foot forward. But as I lifted a hoof off the ground, I felt yet two more appendages.

It was incredibly surreal to discover entire limbs of my body I hadn't even noticed before. And as I looked back I could only grimace as I confirmed what I had felt. Wings.

To correct my earlier statement, a midget Pegasus. Fantastic. Fan-flipping-tastic.

Shaking my head, I walked forward. This time, I closed my eyes and tried not to think about how to walk. I let my legs do what felt natural just like I did when I was human. It worked much better than my first attempt, until I opened my eyes and was promptly acquainted with the floor.

The third time, I was able to make it to the door of my bed room without another issue. I silently thanked whatever deity let me forget to close my door all the way when I last entered and pushed my way down the hall towards our bathroom. I wasn't so lucky with that door.

I only had to raise my head a little to get it up to the knob and bit it with my teeth. It hurt a little to turn my head that way, but I managed. As soon as I got the door open I cursed myself and tried spitting the flavour out of my mouth.

I made my way over to the sink and realized that I was too short to see over the top of it without jumping a little, and seeing how I didn't yet trust my legs enough to do that, I walked over to the toilet and climb on top of the lid. After some struggle, I managed to get up and then onto the counter of the sink. Then I carefully stepped in front of the mirror and almost screamed.

A midget winged unicorn.

It was horrifying. I had a horn, but it was just a little stub in the centre of my forehead, not even two inches long. My wings were about as impressive. The body I had didn't have the same lengthy slenderness my old one had, one of it few good traits. Instead, this one was short and pudgy, baby like in a way. I could have cried.

My coat of fur was all white, but for some reason didn't match my mane or tail. Those two were an extremely silvery blue and grey. Not to mention my mane seemed to defy gravity somehow and was rippling in a wind that definitely wasn't there.

But the worst part was that I was incredibly cartoonish. My entire body looked like it was drawn by some Korean sweatshop animator! My eyes were two-thirds of my face!

Without thinking, I jumped off the counter and onto the floor before sulking back to my room. My mane seemed to comply with my mood and drooped a little. As I nudged open the door all I could think was 'what the heck am I supposed to do?'

My first thought was to go to the Protectorate. They had plenty of ways to test this body and whatever powers came with it. Not to mention they could support me through this. With this kind of body, there was no way I'd ever be able to live a normal life, protect my identity, or anything of that sort. The PRT could accommodate that, let me live more or less normally. But that would only be inside their headquarters. I'd never be able to go out on my own, never be able to go to a store and purchase book or anything else again. I'd be a prisoner without a cell.

But I couldn't simply do nothing, my body just got turned into a cartoon horse of Celestia's sake. I had to-

Wait, who? Celestia? Why did I know that name? Why did it sound so familiar? Come to think of it, I haven't sworn once all through this! I opened my mouth and tried to say something.

"Mother Flipper." I choked back a scream. "Buster! Crud! Tartarus! Argh!" I shouted in frustration, stamping my feet. It was bad enough that I was forced to become some sort of cartoon horse thing, but it also took away my swearing? Why!?

I took a few deep breaths and calmed myself down. This wasn't helping. First and foremost I needed to make sure there was nothing wrong with this body. I didn't need any more nasty surprises.

I leapt up onto my bed, surprising myself with the skill to do it without messing up. In fact, I was so impressed with myself I wasn't paying attention when I reached over and started pressing keys on my laptop and they worked perfectly.

Wait, what?

I looked at my hoof, then at the computer, then at my hoof. I reached forward again and tried typing 'Bingo'. It worked fine.

"What is the point of having a hoof if it just works like it has fingers?!" I shouted at no one in particular. Seriously, what was the point of this power?

I typed in what I needed and did a quick search on the PHO. It took me a minute to sift through the spam to find the information I needed. The New Wave help hotline.

Quickly memorizing the number, I headed down stairs to get the phone. I had never thought about it, but I suppose recent triggers could go to New Wave for help if they wanted to be a hero but didn't trust the government or something. I really just want to know I was going to be okay.

I made it down stairs and was met with trying to get the wall phone from where it hung. After a few minutes of rearranging chairs, I made myself a makeshift staircase up to the phone. I took it off the hook, somehow holding it in my hoof, and punched in the numbers. Again, no idea why or how that worked.

The phone was picked up on the other end by the third ring.

 _"You've reached the New Wave helpline what is the nature of your emergency?"_ I felt a brief panic in my chest, I hadn't expected this to be like a nine-one-one call. I took a breath, surely there were other reasons people called the line. Like if they were witnessing a cape battle starting but weren't in any immediate danger. That would be the main reason this line was set up.

A little more relaxed, I cleared my throat and spoke up.

"Um, hi, I… just triggered and got powers and I…" I bit my lip. I shouldn't be this worked up about this, but I was a cartoon horse! I'll be a laughing stock of a hero.

 _"Ma'am?"_ The lady on the other end asked. _"Are you alright? Did your trigger involve anything incredibly harmful?"_

"No!" I corrected a little more forcefully than I should have. I suddenly remembered that my trigger event was burning my tongue on my tea. Dear lord, even my trigger event was laughable! "It's just that I think I might be a case 53 and I really need Panacea to look me over."

There was a pause on the other end of the line. _"I see, can you describe your change to me?"_

"I… am some sort of winged unicorn. I'm only about two feet tall."

 _"Alright, if you're not immediately injured I'll let New Wave know. Panacea will likely be several hours, if that is alright?"_

"Yeah, it's fine," I mumbled. I gave her my house address before hanging up. I wasn't sure if all that was supposed to make me feel better, but right now I just felt lousy. I put the phone back on the hook and sighed, turning to walk down the makeshift stair I had put together when the front door opened.

"Hey, Taylor I'm-" My dad froze and went wide eyed when he saw me.

"Hey Dad," I said sheepishly. This was going to be a long discussion.

A/N: So, to clarify somethings. Because of thre weird shard thing of weirdness, the trigger event was scaled to what is considered to be highly traumatic for MLP, hence the tounge burning. Also, if it wasn't obvious at first, Taylor is an alicorn filly about the age of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Going with the notion that age is children, and the mane six are proabably older tennagers, and Flim Flam, , and the princesses are all adults, it is clear that when horses get older in MLP their legs, horns, necks, and snouts all get longer and thinner. So yeah, Taylor starts off young like that and grows into full alicorn princess size. Fun.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: If y'all are good I might post a third chapter today. *insert Lenny face here*

"So you burned your tongue…"

"Yes."

"And it turned you into a…"

"A midget cartoon unicorn with wings, yes."

"And in a little bit Panacea of New Wave is going to come to our house just to check out your body and make sure you, a midget cartoon horse, are physically fine?"

"Eyup."

"Christ alive!" Dad said, leaning back in his seat while throwing a hand over his face. I gave a nervous shrug. It was a much shorter explanation than I first thought, but that was because there was no logical way to explain it. The hard part would be facing what was next.

"Taylor…" Dad said, shifting forward in his seat. I was sitting across from him, placing my rear end in a seat while using the front legs to prop me up. I wasn't sure if it was really sitting if one-half of me was technically standing, but I had many more questions about my body than that. "How about mentally?" He finished asking. "Are you doing okay."

I opened my mouth to reassure him that I was, but then I stopped myself and considered. Was I? I didn't just gain powers, which would have been game-changing in the first place, I changed whole bodies.

But then again, my old body hadn't been that great either. I had just started running after nearly falling into a trap set by the bullies, but it had been too soon to see any improvement. Before this, I had still a pudge belly that didn't look flattering. I recall my face had been the topic of choice for the three b-b-b- meanies. At least now no one could argue I looked adorable.

But that didn't change the fact I could never go back out in public again. And while that bothered me it was overshadowed by the fact I wouldn't have to go back to school. Something lost something gained I supposed.

Now that I think about it the whole things with the fingers while not actually having fingers was probably the only thing holding me together here. I didn't understand it, it let me pick up small objects, it let me press buttons, but wouldn't let me untangle knots or scratch an itch. It was like they were there just to taunt me.

I took a breath and answered my father. "I guess I'm doing alright, for now." All things considered, I was just glad for a change in the status quo. It wasn't the greatest improvement on my life, but it could still turn out to be an improvement. I had a chance to get away from school, and a chance to do some good, maybe even turn this horse body into a good thing. Yes, I'm certain that I can put a positive spin on at least some of this.

"Then I guess there is nothing to do but wait." My father said with a sigh.

"And make dinner." I reminded him absently.

"Oh," he said a little crestfallen. "Do you think you can eat pizza?"

I paused and thought about it. Bread, tomatoes, and cheese. That's all things a horse can eat right?

"I don't know," I answered. "But do you think you could get some apples with it?"

***

I was munching on an apple core when there was a knock on the door. I turned my head and looked at the clock. It was about eight, late enough for the sun to have set. I don't remember when I had placed my call to New Wave, but it had been a while ago. Since then I practiced walking around and flapping my wings. While I pretty much mastered walking and took a few tentative attempts at trotting, flying was a no go. While it had taken me off the ground a little bit it also launched me across the room and face first into a wall where I had to spend a couple seconds sitting still to stop my eyes from rolling around in my head. Literally. It appeared the cartoonish aspects were not just limited to how I looked.

My father answered the door for me, which I was glad because knobs appeared to be really hard to use without real fingers. These fake things don't appear to get the concept of a knob most of the time. If I push my hoof against it and gave them a twist there was a fifty-fifty chance the hoof was going to turn the knob against all known science.

Magic horse powers, truly a wonder.

When Panacea came into our house she was flanked on her left side by Glory Girl, who hovered slightly off the ground and looked around our house curiously. Now that Glory Girl was here in her bright white costume I was feeling a little subconscious of the way our house looked. It wasn't messy per se, but it was old. And when a house was old you tended to just accept things as fact about it that you forget. The same way that you might never realize how suggestive a song is or how many swear words are in it until you're showing it to your parents.

I took a deep breath and rounded the corner so they could see me clearly. Their reactions were immediate.

Panacea's eyes widened like she couldn't quite believe it though no doubt she was told what I had said over the phone. Glory Girl, on the other hand, she grinned widely and suddenly started flying across the room.

Before I could protest I was in the air, being held outstretched by Glory Girl from underneath the pits of my two front legs. I did my best to look put off, but I wasn't sure it worked with the way the cartoon physics were going.

"Oh my god Amy! I told you she was for real! Look at her! She is absolutely adorable." I was ninety percent sure that she was about to crush me in a hug when Panacea walked up and said,

"Victoria! You can't just randomly pick people off the floor! Even if they happen to be… cute little unicorn pegasus ponies." Glory Girl made a pouty face at her but thankfully put me down. I really hoped that wasn't going to be a common thing.

"Could you please… just make sure I'm going to be okay?" I asked shyly.

"Of course," Panacea said without a shred of emotion. She knelt down and got closer, allowing me to see the upper half of her face more clearly as it wasn't concealed with her scarf. She looked just as bad as she did in the photos I saw of her earlier today. Stress, determined, constantly irritated, but more than anything, really tired. For some odd reason, I found it familiar.

"Do I have permission to touch you?" Panacea asked cryptically. I nodded to her and she reached forward, slightly brushing behind my ears as she laid a hand on my neck.

I watched her expression change as she did whatever it was she was doing to my body. Her eyes widened at first and then they narrowed as if searching for something. Seconds stretched into minutes of silence as Panacea worked. Oddly enough, it was Glory Girl who broke the silence.

"Um, sis? What's taking so long?"

My father's head immediately snapped to look at her in alarm.

"You mean this isn't normal?" He questioned, looking a little apprehensive.

"For case 53s?" Panacea suddenly countered with before taking her hand away from me. "Yes, sometimes their biology can be a little mixed up. But her's…" she trailed off for a moment.

"Ames?" Glory Girl said, reaching out and poking her on the tip of her nose. "You wanna finish that thought?"

"For the most part, she has a normal horse biology," Panacea answered, shooting a glare at her sister as she rubbed her nose. "But there is some kind of bio-circuitry, reaching out from her stomach and heart and running all along her body. The circuits collect in her wings, horn, and leg muscles. I just can't tell what they do."

"My wings can lift me off the ground," I said without really thinking about it. I stretched my wings open wide to draw attention to them. "Maybe the circuits are part of my power? Some sort of Breaker effect?" Panacea and Glory Girl looked at each other and they before shrugged before turning back to me.

"It could be anything," Panacea answered. "But if your wings give you flight, then you should be able to do something with your horn if that is the case."

I frowned. "Like what?"

"Knowing powers?" Glory Girl said. "Probably blowing stuff up or something like that."

It was a thought. From what I knew most, if not all, powers had some sort of offensive use. Something that gave them the ability to keep going. The only question was how to use it.

Well, I learned to use my legs by just letting instinct take over, and when it came to flying I pretty much did what felt natural. So if I just let my horn do what it wants…

I focused on a chair across the room and tried shooting it. Going with the theory that powers were almost uniformly offensive I could imagine some sort of laser beam shooting out of it and obliterating the chair. After a few moments of thought, I may have felt something give around my horn. I focused harder and pushed, but it didn't feel like my horn was willing.

"Taylor," my dad suddenly said. "You're glowing."

I glanced upwards on instinct. While I couldn't see my horn I could see a glow of some sort. It was light silvery purple like my mane had been.

"You're doing something," Glory Girl observed.

"Isn't this a little dangerous?" Panacea asked, taking a few steps back. My dad nodded in agreement silently.

"Oh, it'll be fine." Glory Girl waved them off. "Besides, she's an adorable little horse. What could she possibly do?"

A little more than reassured to continue I tried something else. Instead of trying to push whatever energy this was out of my horn I let it flow out without any input from me. Now that it was going, I could sort of feel the energy moving through my horn.

As the energy seeped out of me I realized it was sinking into the surrounding room. I could feel it everywhere now, giving me an odd intuitive sense of the room around me in a three-dimensional sense. It was rather disorienting.

Attempting to ignore it, I focused back on the chair, directing all the energy in the room at it. I lost my sense of the room, but the chair glowed. For a minute nothing happened. Then a realize the chair didn't have the weird energy in it, the energy was holding it.

With hardly any effort at all, I raised up the chair into the air with the same silvery purple glow that was coming off my forehead. All the eyes in the room swivelled towards it to watch it curiously.

Moving the chair up and down wasn't all that hard, once I had this energy around it I could feel it like it was a part of myself. Then it was as easy as moving a leg back and forth. I decided to experiment and tried to squeeze it a little. See if I could make the wood groan like it always did when I sat down in it.

The chair was crushed instantly.

"Have I mentioned that I'm really sorry for picking you up earlier," Glory Girl apologized as I had stopped levitating a chair and started levitating thousands of splinters. I barely heard her as I felt the innumerable amount of little spines of wood float around in my telekinesis. I started to arrange them, one splinter after another until they all stood in a few thousand rows. Each one pointing back at me and the others.

"You can stop now Taylor," my father said softly. Realizing what I was doing, I willed the splinters down the kitchen and shoved them into the garbage can.

"Alright," Glory Girl said with renewed energy. "That was marginally terrifying. But pretty sweet, overall."

"I guess," I said with a shake of my head. I barely felt that chair resist at all. I could only imagine what else I could do. Particularly if I had a person in my grasp... "Was there anything else about my body you noticed?" I asked, trying to change the subject of my thoughts. I wasn't expecting much. Just the discovery of these circuits had been a pretty big all things considered.

"Actually, yes." Panacea answered. She walked forward and knelt down next to me again, reaching out to put a hand on my neck again. "You have strange cell structures, the kind I sometimes see in shapeshifters. And considering the kind of change your power gave you, you might be able to go back to human form."

"No case 53 has been able to get back to human form," I pointed out. Panacea shrugged.

"But all other case 53s lost their memories, so you're already a little different." I frowned. I had already tried to turn back into a human. Several times over the last hour, but nothing had happened.

"There might be something blocking it," Panacea suggested as if reading my thoughts. "If you try to go back into a human form, I might be able to see it and change it."

"It's worth a try I suppose," I said, clearly not too hopeful of it. I closed my eyes anyway and thought hard about being human. I focused on the details, what walking felt like, what standing upright was like, how certain things felt against my skin. When I opened my eyes, nothing had changed.

I looked at Panacea pointedly and she furrowed her eyebrows.

"Something was happening." Panacea stated seriously. "It was slow, but a change was happening."

"So, what?" My father asked, inserting himself back into the conversation. "Can she turn back into her normal self? Are you saying it's possible?" It wasn't hard to pick out the hopefulness in his voice, being so sickly sweet I cringed inwardly.

"It might be," Panacea said with a heavy sigh as she rose off the ground. "When I say slow, I mean it. Whatever change there is going to be, it could take hours."

I suppose for someone else their heart would have dropped at that, but I was a little more glad that there was a change to be had at all. I suppose if I found a way to focus on things for hours on end like I had before I might actually stand a chance to become human again. But if that is the case, what is it going to be like trying to be a hero? If it takes hours to move between them I might as well just stay in one form and never change. Although, if this is possible, I'll have the most tightly sealed secret identity of any parahuman. Barring all of New Wave now. Which just might mean my entire secret identity is already blown. Dang it.

"Well, that's all I can do for now." Panacea said, lifting her arms slightly in a helpless gesture. "From what I see she is physically fine. You shouldn't see any problems."

"Well, thanks anyway," Dad said with a sigh. "I know you probably don't normally do house calls so thanks for that too."

"No problem." Glory Girl answered before turning to Panacea. "Come on sis, we've got ice cream at home."

Panacea shook her head at her as Dad showed them to the door. "Take me back to the hospital, I have a few patients to wrap up."

"But Amyyy-" She was cut off when my father shut the door behind them. Dad turned and pressed his back against the door and let out a sigh while shaking his head. It was then I realized why Panacea's sunken expression had looked so familiar, it was something my dad wore a lot of the time.

"Look, Taylor," he started shakily. "It's been a long day, and this is a lot to process. You think we can discuss this in the morning?"

I felt a pang of sympathy for him. That, combined with the full expectation of a serious conversation about this to be incredibly awkward, I took him up on his offer.

"Yeah, I'm ready to head to bed. That thing with the chair really took a lot out of me." As soon as I said I realized it was kind of true. It wasn't a physical exhaustion, but it was tiring all the same. And it was a little startling I hadn't notice it first.

"Yeah, that's good," he answered with a half-hearted nod. "Now, are you going to need clothing?"

Wait, what?

A/N: So, a few questions and clarfications. Taylor CAN change back into a human, but as hinted at it takes about an hour to actually do and there are some pretty obvious physical changes to her human form I'll get into the next chapter. And it only take about ten minutes to go from human to horse, and will start happening if she ins't paying attention like Imp's power. Now, some questions for you;  
1) Would you like to see this story get taken out of Brockton Bay? It was suggested by my idea trampoline, Brandon, that I take this to a whole new city, new capes, new everything, and start fresh. And if you would like to see this happen, comment the kinds of settings, structures, capes, gangs, or anything you would like to see. (Even if the answer is overwelhmingly yes I will still spend several chapters in Brockton Bay where she mets the local heros and what not)  
2) Her cape name. If you have an idea, let me know. And if there is some reason or meaning behind it be sure to include that. I was thinking something really simple, but inspiring. Like The Alicorn, because everyone is going to know who that is. It would be like naming yourself Hero. *silently looks at cannon Worm*  
I might post more questions later if they occur to me.


	3. Chapter 3

I woke up the next morning and immediately froze in place. Without looking I began to move parts of my body just to make sure they were really there. Fingers, toes, arms, fingers, legs, fingers, neck, fingers, feet, fingers, wrists, _fingers_!

I leapt out of bed as soon as it hit me and was struck with the room being normal sized again. A smile spread across my face as I threw open my bedroom door and raced to the bathroom, not even pausing to consider my father's stunned look as I shoved him out of the way to get inside.

Last night, after momentarily freaking out over the fact that I had been completely naked for a short time, I managed to climb into bed. With Panacea's words in my mind, I stared at the clock and thought about being human. I wanted it, I wanted it more than anything. If I could just get a human form my life might not be completely ruined. There might be some hope for it. I fell asleep think about it as I stared at the clock for an immeasurable amount of time. And now, it all paid off.

When I finally got a look in the mirror I couldn't tell if l should be happy or not. I wasn't Taylor, or at least, not the same Taylor I was.

The first thing that caught my eye was my hair. It was the same silvery colour with hints of blue and purple in the under tones. It was also completely immune to bed head, apparently. I silently thanked my powers that it was still the curly mess that had been my only attractive feature. But I could see that wasn't the case now.

My face had smoothed out, not a single blemish or mark to be found. My thin, expressive lips had filled out, becoming a little larger. They weren't quite the 'kissable' ones that Emma had, but they were definitely cuter in a way that reminded me of Madison. My eyes had changed too, growing a little smaller and turning a pretty shade of lavender. My ears were smaller, cuter and my face no longer showed any of the features I inherited from Dad.

A thought entered my mind and I bit my lower lip, an action, I noted, that looked rather adorable on my new face. Hoping against hope, I looked down at my chest.

Nope, still as flat as ever. Dang it.

And with that thought, I realized I still couldn't swear and had to clench my fists. It was fine, so I couldn't swear like normal. I was just going to have to get creative. Like… son of a Bolshevik? Mmm... it was a start.

With a deep breath, I stepped back from the mirror and looked myself over as a whole. The clothing I was wearing before I changed had come with me, thankfully. It was just a t-shirt and some jeans, enough to see I still was still thin as a board and really tall. But with a little squeak of excitement, I noticed that I no longer had my father's gawky frame and the small amount of pudge I had before was gone.

Now my muscles were toned and my body was more womanly in all the subtitler ways. My chest was still flat and my hips weren't any wider, but without thinking about it I was holding myself differently. My skin was smoother and my stomach was flat. I also noted that I was full of energy despite having only just woken up

This was me now. Taylor Hebert, the cute girl with purple, silvery hair and legs for days. I honestly didn't know how to feel about this. The thought of showing up back at school looking like this terrified me. I could only begin to think of ways the trio could taunt me with this change. If I wanted to find my figure I could alway wear baggy clothing like usual, but there was no hiding this hair, these eyes.

"Taylor," My dad said next to me, breaking me out of my daze. He had a bundle of clothing tucked under an arm and was looking at me expectantly. Oh yeah, I sort of ran past as he was on his way to take a shower. "It's good to see you back to normal," he said, his eyes flicking downward and then back up. "More or less," he amended.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Yeah, it does feel a little better now." He smiled at me and set his clothes down on the counter.

"Glad to hear it." He wrapped me up in a hug for a moment. I was grateful for the contact. After spending most of yesterday in horse form, the only human contact I received had been when Glory Girl yanked me off the floor, the hug was oddly reassuring.

"Now," he said, breaking away from me. "Why don't you go get breakfast and think about what we're going to do about this situation while I take my shower."

I nodded to him and squeezed past on my way out. He shut and locked the door behind him.

I made my way down the hall and into the kitchen. The remains of the destroyed chair from last night was piled in the can. I ignored it and went to make myself a bowl of cereal.

Relishing in my height and fingers, I cheerfully made myself a bowl as I casually ignored the thoughts about what Dad said. I sat down at the table at a chair I had not obliterated and started eating.

So, what to do with this power?

The most obvious choice was the Protectorate. They had everything I needed, teammates, resources, controlled environments to test my power. And most importantly, they brought everyone together harmoniously. Letting their powers work off each other in the best way possible. And for the first time in my life, I was a little excited about meeting people. I was certain that I could befriend some of the Wards, not to mention to Protectorate.

But there was something about them, something that was just off. I couldn't put my hoof on it, but something about them was a little strange. Like, while they looked cool and seem like just what I need, it felt like they weren't doing their jobs. Like no matter what they do, there was always conflict in the city. Always some chaos.

The next option was independent hero. There were several issues with that, most of all would be having to respect the rules the Protectorate set. I felt a twinge of annoyance at the thought. I heard chatter all over the internet forums about certain rules that weren't written anywhere. I didn't know them all, but I knew the Protectorate enforced most of them, even set some. It seemed rather counter intuitive to me, the faster the villains went down the sooner things became peaceful again. And after all, that is what everyone wants right?

If I became an independent hero I might try getting some teammates to back me up. If that chair was anything to go by, I could probably pack a punch with a little more training. But I was little a midget horse at the end of the day. While I will more than likely get underestimated because of that, I could reasonably assume I'm not going to be fighting Lung or Kaiser anytime soon.

But then I realized that I don't need to. Normal humans are the lifeblood of gangs, without them gangs fall apart. While capes like Kaiser and Hookwolf were the backbone, that was only against other capes. Gangs were around before capes were, and the police had a hard enough time dealing with them then. I didn't need to pick fights with capes, I just needed to take out the foundation of normal people they are built on.

I realized I had closed my eyes in thought at some point during this without noticing. I opened them and realized I was two feet tall again.

"Celestia curse it all to Tartarus!" I shouted, kicking a chair with a hoof and sending it skidding across the floor. "Seriously?" I asked no one in particular. "It takes hours to become a human but ten flipping minutes to become a horse? Why?!"

"Taylor are you okay I heard-" Dad cut himself off when he saw me sitting on the floor looking flustered, now back in horse form. "Ah," he said. "So I take it the human form doesn't stick as well as we hoped?"

I blew a raspberry and said, "It looks like I actually need to have being human on the mind, like when I fell asleep and when I was going about this morning. I was so caught up in thinking about what my next step should be I didn't even notice I was changing."

My father's eyebrows scrunched up together. "That feels like something a person would notice."

I glared at him. A small smile spread across his face.

"Alright, I'll take your word on it. So, have you decided what you want to do?" I could hear the apprehension creeping into his voice. I already had an idea of what his reaction was going to be, so I braced myself.

"I want to become an independent hero." As I stated I lifted a hoof and stomped it in front of me definitively. I say Dad take a deep breath and let out a sigh.

"Are you sure?" He asked seriously. I nodded.

"Definitely."

"Why not the Wards?" He asked. "I was looking them up last night. They would give you time to learn your powers, only send you on small scale mission, and even pay you decently."

I shook my head. "Because I can do more. While the Wards are safer, I can accomplish more on my own."

His eyebrows furrowed in concern. "I would feel better if you joined the Wards. You could get seriously hurt, and if you're alone no one will be able to help you."

"I'll have to help myself," I answered him. "I'm not going to be stupid about it. The first sign of Lung or anyone, I'm gone. I won't even fight any capes if I can help it." It didn't look like he was reassured.

"What is your plan?"

"I'm going after the normal people in the gangs," I answered quickly. "If I take out their man power and some of their illegal supply chains, I can cripple them enough that other heroes like the Protectorate or New Wave can take them out for good."

"You're not bulletproof," Dad told me. But to be fair, we hadn't tested that. I did run face first into a wall at neck breaking speeds and didn't hurt myself or the wall. "You're in just as much danger fight normal people as capes."

"Dad, there is going to be a danger no matter what I do. That is what happens when you become a cape."

"Well, what if you don't?" My dad asked, a little hint of desperation creeping into his voice. "Why don't you focus on your human form? You can go back to school, live a little more of a normal life. Not get into all this cape stuff."

"You know I can't do that," I said flatly, the kinder tone dropping out of my voice. He opened his mouth to protest but then he saw my expression and I could guess what was going through his mind.

In a normal person's life, there was a point where parents had to accept they just couldn't do anything about it. For most kids, that was when they had their own job and were paying for their own car and gas. At that point, a parent might not like it, but the kind has every right to go out and do as he pleases and the parent is limited to what they can do to stop them. I imagine that is exactly what was going through my father's mind right now.

I had superpowers, and I was going to use them. And in this moment, Dad knew he couldn't change that. He could only mitigate the damage.

"I'd still feel better if you joined the Wards," he finally said, if a bit weakly. I shook my head.

"Maybe if I can't actually accomplish what I think I can." I saw his expression rise a little at that, so I decided to give it to him and move on. "Tonight I'm going out to the Trainyard to test some things, see what I can do."

"You're not going out fighting people, right?" Dad asked slowly.

"No," I answered. Like I had said, I'm not stupid. "I just need to figure some stuff out, see what I'm capable of."

"Then Taylor, can you promise something?"

"What is it," I asked suspiciously.

"When you go out for real, I want you to call New Wave. I don't know if this is something they normally do, but see if you can get Glory Girl to go with as an extra layer of protection. Just to be as safe as possible." I studied him. He looked a little pained at asking, but I could at least do him give him this one.

"Alright Dad, all give her a call when I'm ready to start going out."

"Thank you, Taylor." Dad suddenly knelt down and hugged me tightly. I was shocked for a few moments before he let go and looked up at the clock. He paused and glanced down at me.

"I have to go to work," he said apologetically. "I'll be back later." He paused then said, "And don't get into any trouble please." I rolled my eyes.

"Yes Dad," I said sarcastically. He smiled a little and turned towards the door, picking up his keys off the key rack. As soon as he was out the door I looked up at the table was my bowl of cereal was left abandoned. I wonder if my not-fingers could hold a spoon?

***

I found myself in the Trainyard later that night, all alone. I had been picking up discarded bottles and throwing them as hard as I could at the sides of old shipping containers crumbling boxcars. Neither stood much of a chance. I moved onto small stones and found that I could move them reasonably fast, punching through the thin metal of the containers as if they were paper. The telekinesis was only getting easier the more I practiced it, now I was at the point that I could pick up several dozen pebbles and have them all doing different things simultaneously. My record was thirty-three at this point.

I moved on to other tactics.

I recalled from last night that when I sort of flexed my horn muscles it had spread out over the room and sank into the objects around me. I tried that now, throwing as much energy as I could through my horn and letting it flow.

The energy spread out about fifty feet before coming to a stop. At first, it was like a really fuzzy picture, but as I kept going it grew sharper and I began to pick up details. I start getting a feel for small rocks, bugs, the shape of storage containers, all sorts of things. Then I began noticing plants.

They caught my attention for some odd reason so I walked over to the nearest one. It was a weed, a dandelion. My energy was interacting with it some way, something was different. I tilted my head and tried to get a better perspective on it. I stopped letting my magic flow wildly and directed it at the flower.

I felt a pull inside of me. It was an emotion of some sort I could tell, some way connected with this flower. Continuing to direct my energy at it, I started searching through all my emotions to find what it was the flower was pulling at. Suddenly I found it.

Determination.

It instantly made sense to me, that a weed would be linked to that emotion specifically. It was a tough, vigorous kind of plant. It needed it. I remembered my only feeling earlier today when I was talking to Dad, how I felt determined to become a hero. I directed that at the dandelion.

The glowing light around my horn suddenly shifted colour to a bright orange and the flower was surrounded in it as well. I let it go for a few seconds before cutting it off. But even when I was no long flexing my energy at it, the plant continued to glow.

I don't know what I've done, but it was clear I did something to it. Changed it somehow. Without thinking, I reached forward and ate it.

The moment the plant hit my tongue I was assaulted with two feelings. One, this planted tasted really good holy crap! I needed more of these!

Secondly, I felt a sharp twinge of energy move through me. As the plant slid down my throat, I felt the feeling increase. My blood began pumping in my veins and I felt my adrenaline trigger. I blinked and took a few steps back.

I had a guess on what just happened, but I needed to know more. I looked around, letting my energy spread again. This time I found some wild daisies growing out of the ground where a storage container meet it.

I threw energy at, a little more violently than I had with the dandelion. Once again I felt a tug at a particularly feeling inside of me as the energy enveloped the flowers. This time, I thought about what daisies represented. If the weeds were determination, then daisies would be more light hearted. Something…. Heartwarming? No, hopeful? No, Cheerful? Yes! That's the one.

This time I didn't attempt if finding a memory to attach to it, I just threw cheerfulness at it as best I could. My horn shifted colour as it and the plant was consumed in bright yellow light. I relaxed my energy. The glow remained, if a little dimmed. I reached forward with my mouth and bit off the head of the flower. And I was only marginally more excited for the taste of it than I was seeing what the effect was.

I wasn't sure how to describe the taste of daisy. If was about exactly like how you might expect a flower to taste, only enjoyable to a fine degree. I could really enjoy making some sort sandwich out of this. Maybe a milkshake? Can I drink milk? I growled silently, apparently, powers weren't the only thing I needed to test.

It took me a moment to realize what exactly the effect was. It was subtle enough for me to skip over it at first glance but when I looked around I noticed more. Or rather, I was seeing things in a much higher detail than I had before. I could see the grooves in the rocks on the ground, the subtle was the ground had been torn up and moved by years of long since gone large equipment moving back and forth across it years ago. I could see through the darkness like the moon was constantly shining on me, no longer needing to use the distant lights of barely working street lamps to see my way.

Now more than a little curious about my power's interaction with plants I let my power spread out again, seeping into every available surface it came across. I was aware of that strange tiredness from before creeping back in. I decided that I would pace myself a little more if it grew much, but push myself over my limit by the end just to see what would happen.

As far as wild flowers went in the middle of a bustling city like Brockton Bay, even in an practically abandoned train yard, I didn't have a lot of options. Weeds were the most common, patches of grass after that. There were a few daisies spread out here and there. After a minute I found a new one, unable to tell exactly what just from my energy sense. I started to walk towards it.

I suddenly came to a stop. At the fringes of my power, I felt people standing around, barely moving at all. With a little trepidation, I stalked forward one hoof at a time in an attempt to not draw any attention to myself. I cut off my energy. I didn't think a natural flow of energy caused my horn to glow, but no point in taking chances if I wasn't sure.

Making use of my small body, I wiggled underneath a box car and crawled forward. My stomach brushed the ground lightly as I went, coming uncomfortably tight when I had to crawl over the railroad track and my back brushed up against the surface of the car.

When I came out on the other side I realized that there was still another set of tracks and cars between me and these people. Once again, I got low and started moving.

When they came into sight I recognized them instantly as one of the gangs. With the daisy already wearing off, it was impossible to tell which as I couldn't see their colours. I could see their skin though, which was uniformly white. But that could either be the E88 or the ABB, as both sets of people had pretty white skin, particularly in the dark like this.

There was about twenty feet of open pavement between us, putting me just out of earshot. I could see about twenty or thirty of them gathered up on that side, meaning they were here to do something. No reason to congregate in these numbers otherwise. So I had to find a way to get closer and hear what they were saying. And soon because they were all suddenly turning their attention to someone who appeared to be giving instructions.

I started looking for alternatives. Anything that could be useful in any way. Something that could cover my approach maybe. Then I saw exactly what I needed and I cursed myself for fitting the cartoonish appearance so well.

A minute later I was tiptoeing across the ground with a cardboard box draped over my body. Luckily everyone seemed more concerned with the guy that was talking to them and I was relatively unnoticed. When someone did look my way I simply stopped and crouched so the box would cover me completely and wait for the person to look away. I could make out the murmur of words, I just needed to get a little closer to hear.

"... Always make sure to do that, damn niggers ain't worth two bullets." Well, that answered which gang. "Now," the stranger continued. "You'll each have a pistol for the job, fifteen bullets in a magazine. Each one of you will have ten magazines to reload. I don't know if you can do basic math but that means you're carting a hundred and fifty bullets each, times thats by the lot of you. And remember; one nigger, one bullet. We don't have to kill them all, but just enough that the rest will get the message."

I felt my blood run cold as I realized the gravity of the situation. This was the E88, and they were about to stage a racial cleansing.

"Now Rune and I will back your back up." The man stated. "We don't expect capes but just in case we'll be here, disguised among you lot to get the drop on them."

I shifted my position a little to find a gap between the people to get a better look at the guy giving the orders. If at this distance and only glimpsing him through the people it was immediately obvious who it was.

Hookwolf, standing side by side with Rune.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't get to a phone to call for help, not soon enough for it to matter anyway. I could call the Protectorate or New Wave and the best case scenario is that Hookwolf and Rune distract them while the rest attending keep going. There was really only one option, I had to find a way to cripple them.

There were three options the way I saw it. I could pick up a lot of small rocks, but the more I picked up the less force I could put behind each of them. Given my limit was about at thirty rocks I could have almost one rock for each person. But I didn't need them all out, just most of them. If I dropped that number to fifteen I could probably shoot the rocks through their legs and half their force. I could make a run for it then, call who I need. Provided I could escape the two capes.

Alternatively, I could pick up a single rock and put everything I had into a single shot right through Hookwolf skull. I read his PHO page, nothing but a lethal shot would put him down. And right now, while in his most human form, this was the best chance I was likely to get.

Rune might propose a probably as well. I wasn't sure I wanted to pit my telekinesis against her's just yet. She was far more experienced than me and if I had to deal with Hookwolf and gang members at the same time I likely would lose.

Meaning no matter what my choice I was still faced with one or two more threats.

Carefully, I selected two rocks as I came to my decision. Then I telekinetically shoved them into Hookwolf's eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Hookwolf went down yelling and clawing at his eyes wildly. I watched the rest of the people tense and start looking around. I braced myself for the moment when they spotted me, but it never came. Then I realized, I was in an unassuming cardboard. They couldn't see me, they didn't know where I was.

I reach out with my power and grabbed on to fifteen rocks, praying that my horn's glow doesn't give me away.

"Duck out of the way," a woman shouted. Rune, I assumed.

The rocks were flying through the air before she finished saying it and they were tearing through legs before many could react. About five of them managed to duck out of the way before the rocks ripped through legs and bone. I silently grimaced, those wounds were a little more nasty than I intended. I had no doubt they would probably end up bleeding out if something was done soon.

Maybe that phone call to New Wave should have been more of a priority.

Looking through the small hole in my box I saw the gang members scattered. Smart, a dozen normal people against some unseen telekinetic throwing rocks around wasn't a hard equation to figure out the out come to. And it let me focus on Rune.

"Damn it you cowards!" She shouted at the running gang banger. "At least comeback and grab the others!" They didn't listen.

She had two large things floating around her I couldn't quite make out. They were about the right size and shape for car doors, but there weren't any cars in this area. Even the occasional bus was rare. Maybe they were something she brought with her?

It wasn't important. What was is that she was searching for me, and I didn't want to wait until she spotted the familiar glowing coming from my box. And the fact that Hookwolf's shouts were dying and he was rising to his feet wasn't reassuring me.

I launched the rocks at her, coming from several different directions. I briefly marvelled at the fact I was able to keep track of each rock individually and give each one a special order. That was now twenty different pebbles.

Rune swung the two large panels she was using around, catching half of my pebbles in the air. The ones that got through clinked against her mask and chest. Some kind of breastplate? I couldn't put enough power behind them for any meaningful effect. I drop half that collided with Rune's shields leaving me with thirteen. Hopefully, she'll think they lose power or something if she can stop them. If I keep it up, I might be able to leverage it against her.

"Where are they?" Hookwolf suddenly growled. I turned all thirteen rocks against him. They hit something that was distinctly metal. Crud.

"Somewhere in Trainyard!" Rune answered him. "It's the only place to hide! Turn left ninety degrees and-" she was cut off as I dropped all other rocks and flung the second closest pebble straight for her chest. She moved whatever she was using as a shield in front of her at the last second. I noted that even with all my strength behind a single rock it only burrowed a few centimetres into it.

Hookwolf let out a half yell half roar as he tore forward across the ground, almost literally. About ten feet away from me he burst through the fence that had previously separated us and start ramming through a train car. I briefly relaxed as he went right past me, but I didn't anticipate the gust of wind that accompanied it, blowing my box away.

I didn't waste anytime leaping to my feet and darting towards Rune, putting as much distance between me and Hookwolf as possible. At the same time, I doubled down one my assault against Rune. I lifted thirty-five rocks and start flinging them at her, letting them go once they got started so I could pick up another one. It was a strain to keep them all going, but I powered through.

The ones that managed to make it through bounced harmlessly off her, but the point wasn't to hurt her. At least, not yet.

Street cleaners hadn't been by to clean up this area since the import-export in the area dried up, so I had plenty of small rocks to pick from the corroding concrete. Not to mention what Hookwolf was kicking up.

I was galloping towards her when I heard the sound of a gun cocking. Turning my head slightly I saw a gang banger lying on the ground, holding a pistol at me with a shaky hand. I looked him right in the eyes and saw that his were wide and dilated. I could only imagine what he was thinking as he pulled the trigger.

The moment I saw his finger tensing I dropped everything I had flying at Rune and focused in front of me. I wasn't thinking or moving fast enough to grab the gun with my power, so I threw it all in front of me. But that wasn't how my telekinesis worked. I need to grab something, anything at all. I tried latching on to the air in front of me as the muzzle flashed. I closed my eyes as I felt my attempt fail.

I felt the bullet collide against something my power produced. It wouldn't have hit me anywhere important, maybe my leg if it happened at the right moment. But instead, it slammed against… something.

Cracking my eyes open I saw that I was surrounded by a silvery shield all around me. I felt it pulling energy out of my horn like a faucet and quickly dispelled it. I was running low before this fight, and launching the pebbles was slowly chipping away. I didn't need that expediting that process.

Realizing I had stopped moving in the face of the bullet, I snatched the gun out of the gangbanger's had with my power and tossed it away before turning toward Rune. She was standing still, staring at me with her mouth slightly open.

I turned my whole body towards her and stomped my left front leg on the ground in front of me in declaration.

"I'd say something clever here, if I could think of anything," I stated before grabbing one of the rocks now laying at her feet and shooting it through her gut.

She let out a cry and fell backwards, but she wasn't quite done. She dropped one of her shields in favour of launching another at me. In a split second decision, I reached out with my own energy and caught it.

I felt my horn begin to throb as I pushed. It was just like picking anything else up, except it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and I was the centre of gravity. I grit my teeth and pushed against it, taking a step forward as I did. With a grunt, I took another step and the shield thing was pushed back a single step with me. My horn flared brighter and harder and I took another step.

I felt Rune's control failing and the shield going back easier. I decided to focus my efforts harder despite the rising throb in my horn. For a moment, I felt her push increase and we hit a stalemate for the briefest of moments before her resistance stopped altogether.

"Hookwolf!" She cried before getting pinned against the ground with the shield she had been using. I let up and took a deep breath, that was exhausting. But at least she was down, and Hookwolf was still-

Running directly at me, swinging bladed arms around wildly and stomping on top of his own men as he did so. He was practically on top of me before I even had a chance to move.

In yet another moment I panicked and threw up the bubble shield I discovered a few moments ago. Hookwolf's massive hand slammed into the shield, sending it and me flying right as my horn decided to stop working.

The rolled across the ground, my back skidding against the concrete for a few moments. I slowly rolled to a stop and struggled back to my feet. The throb in my horn was just on the edge of unbearable levels. I guess I knew what pushing my power to the edge felt like

"Hookwolf!" I heard Rune called. "I'm stuck underneath these damnable shields you made me carry." Huh, so they were legitimate shields. Good to know.

"Where's the cape," Hookwolf growled back at her.

"Hookwolf you ass! Get me out of this!"

"Where is the cape?" He growled a second time. I saw Rune pause and bite back a swear. I knew she was going to tell him, and while I was sure I could probably out maneuver him while he's blind all, but it would take was one mistake and I would be pink paste.

Clenching my teeth as hard as I could, I resisted the urge to scream as I reached out with my power and grabbed a single pebble. Carefully, so Rune could see it, I lifted it up and set it gently on her forehead right between where her eye would be behind her mask. Rune was silent for several seconds.

"She left," Rune finally said with a weak voice.

"Fuck!" Hookwolf shouted, slamming his fists against the ground. I didn't move, afraid that a single sound would reveal me. After a few second of seething, Hookwolf turned towards Rune.

"Where are you?" He asked

"Over here." She answered. Hookwolf began shrinking down in a human form as he fumbled his way towards her. I noted a little sickly that there was some blood in his footsteps. The gang members he stepped on.

He was more or less completely human by the time he made it to Rune and she was in the middle of giving her step by step instructions on how to get to her when a flash of blue went by and suddenly Hookwolf was on the ground.

I had to blink a few times before I realized Battery was standing where Hookwolf had previously been. And if Battery was here…

"Aaaaaaaand stay down!" Assault cheered as he pounced through the air and landed on Hookwolf's head. He jumped back up and suddenly landed next to Battery. He paused for a moment as if expecting Hookwolf to react. After a moment when nothing happened he took a step and was suddenly by Hookwolf's side again.

"Huh," he stated. "Well, he is still alive." Battery shook her head at him and turned towards me. She hesitated a moment before saying anything, giving Assault the chance suddenly appeared right next to me. And suddenly I was being lifted off the ground.

Celestia bucking curse it.

"Battery!" Assault said cheerfully as I got held off the ground. "Look at how cute it is."

"I'm a her, not an it," I said bitterly.

"She talks!" Assault practically squealed before hugging me to his chest. I was everything I could do not to turn my head slightly and stab him with my horn right then and there. "Can I keep her?"

"Assault no." Battery said pleadingly.

"Assault yes!" He answered. He looked down at me with a grin and I narrowed my eye back at him.

"I will buck you in the genitals if you don't put me down."

"I suddenly feel compelled to put some distance between us," Assault said, though he didn't drop his cheery tone. He dropped me on the ground and my legs fell out from under me awkwardly, putting me on my belly. When I looked back up I saw Assault was standing a little behind Battery and she was squeezing the bridge of her nose.

"So what exactly are you?" Battery asked me after a moment. She didn't sound annoyed as she looked. Maybe the theories from PHO about the two of them were true then.

I glanced over back at Hookwolf and Rune for a moment. Hookwolf wasn't moving and Rune was slowly wiggling out of the shield. Probably going to have to handle that here soon. I turned my gaze back to Assault and Battery. Assault was grinning at me lightly while Battery seemed a little suspicious of me. I sighed.

"I'm… a winged unicorn." I told her with a slight mumble.

"Not a Tinker or power creation are you?" She immediately asked. I shook my head.

"No, a case 53 of some sort. You can ask Panacea, I had her look me over just yesterday."

"I see," Battery stated. Slowly a kind smile grew across her lips, all the tension that had been in her body from before working its way out. "You did us a good favour tonight, taking out Hookwolf and Rune mostly for us. Even if we did step in at the end."

"But that does beg the question," Assualt said, slowly pulling out a cell phone. "What were you doing around here? And do you have a cape name yet?"

I shook my head. "I was just practising, I thought the empty Trainyard would have made a great spot to just see what I could do. Then I noticed these people and came to investigate. That's when I heard Hookwolf talking about some sort of racial cleansing and decided to step in.

"And no, I haven't thought of a name."

"I see," Assault suddenly said rather cheerfully. Before I knew it he was next to me, kneeling on the ground and wrapping his arm around my neck and shoulders. He held his hand up high and snapped a selfie with a quick flash from the camera.

He popped back up and started typing on his phone.

"Then you shall be known as Cupcake, the Obliterator."

"Assault no!" Battery protested. For his part, he paused in his typing and thought about it.

"Yeah, you're right. Too hard to say." Assault admitted. I let out a sigh of relief. Anything was better than getting stuck with that for a name.

"Hanging-out-with-my-new-friend," Assualt said as he typed on his phone. "Muffin,-the-Destroyer. Aaaand, send."

"Assault?" Battery protested. "Why would you do that?" Assault shot a grin back at her.

"Because I w-Erk!" He was cut off as my hind legs made a rapid contact with his crotch. He crumpled to the ground and rolled up in a ball with a loud moan. Battery and I watched for a moment curious when he managed to raise his head and mumble,

"Totally worth it."

"You know that the Director is going to totally rail you when we get back right?" Battery asked him, not the slightest hint of concern in her voice.

"Mmm, slightly less worth it."

Battery let out a sigh and looked up. She scanned the surrounding area. Neither Hookwolf or Rune had managed to get very far. I noticed a van coming down the road with PRT markings along it. One of them must have called them in.

I took stock of my surrounding as well. There were about six gang members still on the ground either holding on to their wounds or passed out from blood loss. There were a few trails were a few manage to work through the pain and limp away. It was hard to tell how many were crushed by Hookwolf.

"Look," Battery said. "I know you probably weren't all that responsible, but a lot of people got hurt here tonight. It would mean a lot if you came with us to help straighten out what went on here tonight."

"I guess I can do that," I said glumly. It wouldn't be my first choice, but people died here and no way do I want to give those Nazi's a chance to blame it on me. "But I get shotgun." I said pointedly.

"But I ride shotgun." Assault whimpered. Battery grinned at me.

"Of course," she said. "But you might want to think on your cape name before Muffin, the Destroyer sticks. Maybe something to do with that mark on your flank?"

My what? I craned my head to look at what she was referring to. Sure enough, there was strange mark on my butt that hadn't been there before. One on each side of me.

The mark was a trio of orange and red diamonds, kind of like stars. They were each different sizes, a small one on the lower left, a slightly larger one placed a little higher to its right, and the largest one in the middle but higher than the other two. Each of them were linked with tendrils of fire reaching between them.

What the heck was that supposed to mean? And what kind of name was I supposed to make out of that?


	5. Chapter 5

The ride over to the PRT headquarters was uneventful. Once Hookwolf and Rune were both foamed and stored inside the PRT vans, separate from each other, Assault climb into the one with Hookwolf while Battery and I took the other one. She opened the door for me and I hopped up much like a dog would, except I opened my wings a little to get a little extra height. While I still hadn't figured out flight yet the wings had been useful in other means of moving. Hooves weren't very good for traction on polished floors like wood or marble, so I had gotten into the practice of using my wings a little to help me take corners. They also assisted me in running, which was nice.

One in the van I plodded across the seat and tried to curl up on the passenger side and leave another room for Battery as she climbed into the driver's seat. The PRT agents that originally drove the van had to move to the back.

Even with me curling up as tightly as I could my hind legs were a little on comfortably close to her and I had to hold my tail close to me or it would be on her. But once that was sorted out, I laid down and did my best to ignore the gently throbbing in my horn. At the very least, it was slowly going away.

It was kind of odd seeing a superhero, Battery, doing something as mundane as driving. Particularly when she could charge herself up and run really fast. But I guess she had a civilian life too.

"So is it strange being a unicorn pegasus?" She asked out of nowhere about ten minutes into the ride.

"It depends on what you consider strange," I answered vaguely. "I would say going from being a normal human to a fluffy cartoon horse with a magic horn and wings is something that couldn't not be considered strange. Unless you're asking 'does it feel weird'. In which case, not really. I just need some time to figure out how it all moved."

Battery chuckled to herself a little and she threw on a blinker before making a sharp right turn.

"I wouldn't let anyone hear you say magic. Knowing Assault he probably has a lot of people asking about your powers. You don't want him telling them you do magic, he might tell them you fart rainbows or something."

"Too late!" We heard Assault say cheerfully. Both of us did a sharp neck snap towards Assault, who was bounding across the ground at high speeds next to the van outside Battery's window. He appeared to also be typing on a phone.

"Assault? What are you doing?"

"Eavesdropping," He answered honestly. "And thank for the farting rainbow bit, that's going to be a kicker. Now, do you by chance-" He was cut off when Battery suddenly opened her door really fast and hit him with it.

"Ow! Fuck! Damn it! Oof! Son of-! Ack! Eeii!" were the words and sounds we heard Assault making as he hit the ground with a comical thump and started rolling out of sight behind us. The sounds of him hitting the ground disappeared behind us in a few seconds. Battery calmly watched in the driver's side mirror for a few moments before saying,

"Huh. I think the other van hit him."

"Is… he going to be okay?" I asked oddly. Battery waved it off.

"Oh, he's fine… probably… Nothing Panacea can't fix anyway since she's going to be at the PRT to heal some of the gang members and fix that hole going through Rune's chest."

I nodded silently at that. At her mention, I remembered Panacea from the night she came over to my house and the expression on her face. That was the expression my father wore, the kind when someone was running themselves into the ground. For my dad, it was back just after mom died, when he forgot to feed me and was struggling to do the most basic of things. It was better now, but the look was there. The odd night he'd come home late because there was some problem. When an order came down from up the chain saying there were fewer jobs. That time once a month to a year when he would come home drained and I know it was because he just spent hours trying to convince bureaucrats that just talk in circles around him to avoid actually facing problems.

But that was once every week or two for my dad because he worked at The Docks. Panacea worked in a hospital and people didn't stop getting hurt, particularly not in this city. And how much extra work did I cause her tonight?

Probably a lot less than had Hookwolf and Rune gone through their plan, if there was anyone left to heal.

I shook the conflicting thoughts out of my mind. I had others things to worry about now. I was heading into a lion's den of bureaucracy. I needed to focus on the course ahead of me.

We entered the building through some special garage door meant specifically for taking vans housing villains in them. There were platoons of PRT officers standing around the area waiting to foam anyone and anything should something go wrong. Armsmaster was standing in directly in front of where the vans pulled in at with his arms crossed as he waited for us.

Battery pulled the van to a stop and climbed out where she was joined by Assault a moment later.

"Battery," Armsmaster greeted with a serious nod. I noted he didn't greet Assault. "I heard you picked up an independent hero tonight. Where is she?" Battery gestured to the van door she had left open for me and I carefully rose from my seat and jumped into the open.

Armsmaster's reaction was maintained as a solid mask where he just frowned seriously. All the other PRT officers in the room though nearly dropped their foam sprayers.

"Battery," Armsmaster began, "Stay here and make sure prisoner lock up goes smoothly. Assault, the Director's office. Now." It was nice to see Assault pale a little. Armsmaster then turned to me.

As a two foot tall horse I was getting used to the fact I generally had to look up at people, but the way Armsmaster stared down at me with his heavy Tinker tech armour and serious expression I got the distinct impression he was trying to intimidate me.

I raised my wings a bit and made sure my hair was doing the wavy thing it does. No sense in showing weakness of any sort.

"How old are you?" Armsmaster asked me.

"Fourteen," I answered. I was still a few months away from being fifteen, though I'm unsure how that would translate into my horse form.

Armsmaster nodded. "Then I will take you to see the Ward's room while we wait for the Director to be done. This late at night there is usually only two Wards present, and one will be out on patrol for the next twenty minutes."

The way he said it made me wonder if there was some sort of clock in his helmet or if he had the patrol schedule in there. I didn't voice it out loud though, just gave a nod and followed him out of the garage.

He took me through the building and into some sort of Tinker elevator. I noticed a lot of people gaping at me on the way, including one woman whole actually squealed at the sight of me. I suddenly got the urge to burn this place to the ground.

The elevator was incredibly smooth for an elevator, probably the result of some application of Tinker tech, When the doors opened Armsmaster lead me down a short walkway which ended in a sealed door with two buttons next to it. He pressed the lower one and we waited a few seconds silently before the door opened.

A little odd that there would be such a delay in a door opening when they already went through the trouble of making a Tinker elevator.

"The attending Ward would have been on the monitors and should working their way back into this common room to meet you. When we're ready for a debrief Miss Militia will come by. I trust everything is okay?"

"Yeah," I answer curtly. I got the feeling he was dumping me off just so he wouldn't have to deal with me so I didn't feel like giving him anything but similar treatment. Armsmaster nodded and turned away, heading back for the elevator. I turned around and examined the room.

It was a large domed area with walls that seemed like they were made to be rearranged at a moment's notice. Around the edges of the dome were individual doors that lead to the Ward's room. Each door had a little engraved plaque on the front of it. Vista, Clockblocker, Aegis, Gallant, and Kid Win. Five of them in total.

There were some couches in this centre area, gather in a circle around a round coffee table. If I had to guess it was likely for informal team meetings or when they have time to relax but had to stay in costume. I jumped up on the loveseat near me and sat down as I continued to look around.

"Holy shit, that's a cartoon horse!"

I turned my head to see a guy in a white bodysuit and a clock on his face mask. Clockblocker.

"Hi," I greeted politely, rising from the loveseat to look at him.

"I- goddamn I owe Assault twenty bucks!" He paused and placed a hand on his face mask, shaking his head back forth as he did so.

"Well, at least you didn't pick me up," I said bitterly.

"I can change that if you want."

"No!" I snapped. Clockblocker chuckled and moved to sit on the couch across from me, swinging his arms wide over the back side and putting both feet on the coffee table.

"So," he began. "How does one become a cartoon horse? For research purposes."

"Become a burn victim," I answered. Clockblocker flinched reflexively and I immediately felt bad. Not for the lie itself, but for giving him the impression I was in some horribly disfiguring accident. The truth was… not important right now.

"Alright, I've got to ask," Clockblocker said after a few moments of awkward silence. "Can I pet you?"

What? "What?"

"I- uh, was wondering if I could pet you? I mean, your fur looks really soft and…" I stared at him. "I just thought, maybe you would…" I continued to stare at him. "You know what? Never mind."

"Yeah," I said with a nod.

"Moving on," Clockblocker said, forcing the conversation forward from there. "What kind of sweet powers does a horned pegasus get?"

"Telekinesis," I answered. I didn't feel like mentioning the thing with the plants. Not until I understood it better and even then I probably won't share it. I'd like to have some thing only I know, like the other powers I wasn't mentioning.

Now that I thought about it, I was rather shocked how many powers I have already manifested through my energy. I have a fifty-foot radius where I can sense pretty much anything, the force field, imbuing the plants with certain effects, all on top of telekinesis and my ability to turn back into a human. I was becoming quite the grab bag.

"And the wings?" Clockblocker asked.

"I haven't figured them out yet," I mumbled back.

"Huh, I was expecting more from Muffin, the Destroyer."

"That is not my name," I said scathingly. "And I took down Hookwolf, Rune, and Assault's crotch tonight."

"About that, how did you take him down? Hookwolf, I mean. I have an idea about Assault."

I shrugged and slumped down in the love seat. "I might have gouged out his eyes with pebbles."

"Holy shit," Clockblocker said for the second time tonight. "Vista is going to love you."

At that moment a girl's voice came from behind me. "I'm going to love who?" I figured out that the back of the chair was blocking me from sight about the same time Clockblocker did.

"Why, a magical cartoon horse of course," Clockblocker said with a wave of his hand.

"Seriously?" Vista asked. I could hear her shoes tapping against the tile floor as she spoke. "You expect me to believe that post Assault made a little bit ago?"

Clockblocker gestured to the love seat I was sitting in. "See for yourself."

"You can't be ser- OH MY GOD SHE'S ADORABLE!"

Before I was completely sure what was happening I was being wrapped up into a hug so tight that I was having trouble breathing.

"Vista," I croaked. "Need. Air."

"Oh, sorry!" She released me and I took a massive breath before falling into heavy breaths.

"Jesus Vista," Clockblocker said. I could hear the grin in his voice. "You just met her and you nearly choked her out. That's awesome." Vista shot him a look from under her visor and reach out with a hand. Clockblocker jerked forward as Vista Gibbs Slapped* him from six feet away.

"Yeah, like I said, sorry." Vista sighed, slowly taking her eyes away from Clockblocker.

"It's fine, I guess," I mumbled. I seriously didn't know what it was with people and freaking out when they saw me. I mean, sure I was pretty strange, but surely I couldn't be that weird.

"But you are absolutely adorable," Vista stated. I rolled my eyes.

"Believe me, I know."

"What exactly are you anyway? A uniasus? A pegacorn?"

"Alicorn, actually." Another voice said. Vista and I turned to see Miss Militia standing in the doorway. "Originally an Italian synonym for unicorn, meaning a pegasus with a horn or a unicorn with wings. Same difference."

"Miss Militia," Vista said respectfully, straightening up and holding her hands behind her back.

"Vista," she nodded to her before turning her gaze back to me. "The Director's ready for you now. We need to talk about what you did tonight."

A/N So, I would have made this longer and included some more of her interactions with Piggot and the others, but this was already going on five pages so I decided to cut it off there and just get all of it next chapter. Some of you might have noticed that Shadow Stalker isn't a Ward yet, the idea being since this came a few months to a year from the locker event, depending on when you think it happened, and that the bullying only just started would mean Shadow Stalker is still going out being a vigilante and hasn't joined yet. I was going to have Triumph still be in the Wards, since Grue and Tattletale had implied he only recently left, but decided against it.

Also, I was having issues up until recently with my main computer. My smaller laptop couldn't access FanFiction but could post on Spacebattles, so I'm about to spam a bunch of chapters that have gone up since I last posted here.


	6. Chapter 6

"Seven dead, twenty-two injured, and of those five of them are needing Panacea to heal them. Rune took a serious injury to her chest that narrowly missed her heart and lungs, also needing Panacea. Not to mention the overly brutal act of blinding Hookwolf."

Director Piggot sat across from me at the table, setting down photos and documentation of each account as she did so. The one that caught my eye was Rune's. They had taken a portion of her black and red robes off to clean and dress the wound. From what I saw the rock had shot cleanly through in bullet like fashion, but was extremely more destructive. There was a second one where she was wrapped in bandages and they were completely soaked through. She probably needed a blood transfusion or two.

"Do you plan on joining the Wards," Piggot asked flatly. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Aren't you supposed to make a sales pitch first?" In response Director Piggot leaned back in her seat and gave a dismissive wave.

"You kids tend to already know what you want. No point in me wasting my time if you've already made your decision."

"No, I don't plan on joining the Wards," I answered just as curtly as she had been treating me.

"Then you need to start to, because this-" She pointed with a finger down at the photos. "-isn't going to fly."

I glanced down at the photos and then back up at her. "There are laws in place to protect actions like this during cape battles."

"There are," Piggot conceded. "And if you give us a reason, we can press this issue. But we won't, not this time at least. However, if this happens again you'll have to make a choice between juvenile detention or joining our Wards."

"Are… you threatening me?" That was a shock to me. When I imagined how this interview would go I expected it to go much differently. I was anticipating getting an offer for the Wards, but this was completely different. Was being pressured into joining, like this was some gang and the Director was the mob boss. This was just short of blackmail.

"I'm merely stating the facts," Piggot stated. I gave her a look.

"In my experience, which isn't much, when people throw that line, they are usually threatening you."

Piggot leaned forward over the table and laced her fingers together in front of her while giving me a steely glare.

"Do you know why the PRT exists?" She asked.

"To acted as a governing body to the Protectorate."

"No," she said so fast she practically cut me off. "That is what they do, not the reason they do it. No, the reason the PRT exists is because people are afraid. Afraid that parahumans like you are going to take the power they have and assume it gives them the authority to deal vigilante justice. Because once someone with the powers to ignore reality starts killing criminals uncontrollably what can normal humans do to stop them? Nothing. We have to rely on other parahumans to take care of them. People get hurt, property is destroyed, and in the end, normal people are forgotten. The PRT stands in the way of that.

"So when I see a new independent hero on the scene, who's first night out led to a fight with one of the top capes in the city, and her first reaction is to shove rocks into his eye, I see a parahuman that thinks that any amount of force is going to be necessary when it comes to taking down the bad guys. And that is going to be a problem."

I grit my teeth and glared at her. I had to resist every urge not to cuss her out or spit in her face because of how infuriating this was. It was Hookwolf, those two pebbles should have killed him and not only did he live but he also came far too close to killing me.

"Are we done here?" I growled. Piggot rose from her chair and collected the files and photos she brought with her.

"I am, you still have to answer some questions for Armsmaster. I was only here to give you a warning and deliver the PRT's official apology for Assault's behaviour. We're sorry by the way."

"I don't want to answer any more questions."

"Too bad," Piggot said. "You stay and answer some questions or you can leave and we can prosecute. I'll leave you with Armsmaster to decide." She turned and stalked out of the room without another word. I bit back a curse I probably wouldn't be able to make.

Armsmaster came in right behind and sat where she had been previously. He looked at me silently for a few moments before saying,

"You're irritated."

"Really?" I asked sarcastically. "How did you know."

"You'll have to excuse her, she has been dealing with another vigilante that has a pension for pinning people to walls with crossbows bolts. Combined that with the fact it is late at night and she had just got done scolding Assault for his behaviour tonight."

I wanted to complain, say something about her behaviour. I knew at the very least the PHO would have a field day if they found out the Director basically used gang tactics and blackmail to make me join the Wards, if not mainstream media. But I was pretty sure that they wrote their own press releases, they could probably bury it if they wanted to.

Besides, it wasn't like that would accomplish anything besides annoying them. And while that would be satisfying, it wasn't going to help me get home any sooner.

I took a deep breath and said, "About that, I think it is time I picked a name. I really don't want to be known as Muffin, the Destroyer."

"Alright," Armsmaster said evenly. "Any ideas? Naming you in our report about the capture of Hookwolf and Rune would be a good way for you to debut."

"I was thinking of a few things," I admitted. "Like Silver Mane or White Star, but that was before I got this tattoo thing." I gestured towards my flank. Armsmaster didn't seem to move his head to look at it all.

"You mean that wasn't there before?"

I shook my head. "No, it appeared after I got done fighting Hookwolf and Rune." Armsmaster seemed to consider that for a moment. Eventually, he decided to move on back to the topic of my name.

"Perhaps something that keeps with a star theme?" He suggested. "The fire could be solar flares of some sort. Maybe exploding stars."

"Solar Flare?" I mentioned lamely. I didn't really fit the colour scheme for that.

"Supernova." Armsmaster suggested. "A star that has reached the end of its life and its outward nuclear fusion force can no longer combat the inward gravitational force. The whole star collapses into one of three effects. One of which produces a supernova."

"And the other two effects?" I asked, hoping to find some other inspiration. Exploding star really didn't seem like me.

"It either condenses into a neutron star or becomes a black hole. Neither would be all that fitting. If you don't like Supernova, Nova itself should be open."

"That one sounds okay."

"Are you sure? Once it goes out it'll be impossible to get rid of." I nodded. It was fitting enough I suppose. And to be perfectly honest, my body was going to be far more interesting to the press than any name was. Unless I named myself after Lucifer, an idea I'm not ashamed to admit went through my mind once or twice.

"Alright, I'll note it down then. Now, on to your powers. Battery reported you have telekinesis. Is that true?"

"Yes," I answered.

"And what about an apparent force field they saw you use?" They saw that? Odd.

"An extension of that, I focused on the air around me and it forms a shield." A partial truth, I had focused on the air to make the shield. But that wasn't necessarily the reason the shield had gotten made.

Armsmaster paused. "Fair enough," he stated. "And your wings?"

"I think I can fly, if I figured it out. For now they just help me move fast."

"And your horn?"

"It lets me do my levitation, I concentrate a sort of energy through it that lets me pick things up."

"Energy? May I see?"

I hesitated a moment, remembering the throbbing over exerting myself had caused, but as soon as I remembered it I realized the throbbing was all but gone. I was absolutely exhausted, but only in that strange metaphysical way that came with using my energy. Weird.

I could see my horn throw the lighting of the room off as I reached out and took hold of the chair I was sitting on. I lift it, and by extension myself, off the ground briefly before I found the throbbing returning with a vengeance. I quickly lowered myself before it could get too great.

"Interesting," Armsmaster stated. "Doesn't appear to emit any sort of radiation. Would you mind lifting this for me?" He pulled out a roundish Tinker device about the size of an apple and set it on the table. I frowned, but reach out with my energy and lifted it up anyway.

Armsmaster frowned as I lifted it. He stared at it for a few moments before motioning for me to bring it down.

"It doesn't appear to be any sort of energy we've ever seen." He stated factually.

"Meaning what?" I asked curiously.

"I don't know. It is some sort of energy, just nothing that we have ever seen before. Meaning this would be the first time that we've ever seen it concentrated enough to notice."

"Which means we can name it, right," a voice over the intercom asked. Suddenly, the wall on the right side of the room slid down revealing a pane of glass with Clockblocker and Assault standing behind it. Assault was grinning wildly and I could only assume Clockblocker was doing the same.

"Because there is only one thing to call it," Clockblocker stated.

"Magic." Assault finished.

"It isn't magic," Armsmaster and I corrected simultaneously.

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," Assault stated.

"Because if this is indeed a new source of energy never before seen then it must be named. And those names include, but are not limited to,-"

"Magic," Assault said. I felt my eye twitch.

"If it's my energy, I'll name it," I said sternly. Assault's grin widened.

"Well, that is going to make all my fans on this live stream rather disappointed." Assault held up a hand and showed a screen that was re-enacting the scene from a few seconds earlier, a video feed delay. I grit my teeth and looked at him.

"If there wasn't a sheet of glass between us I would come in there and-" I was cut off as the sheet of glass started sliding down and Assault paled. I looked behind me and saw Armsmaster holding down a button that was presumably lowering the glass.

"Go nuts," Armsmaster said irritably. "With my full permission."

I looked back and smiled at Assault. He held up his hands defensively and started backing away. Clockblocker was inching towards the door.

"Now hold on," Assault said. "Let's not be too h-OW- Fuck! MMMMMMmmmmmm….. Still worth it."

Just then the intercom system came back on and the familiar voice of Director Piggot came through.

"Assault. My office. Now."

"Goddamn it."

I was a little less annoyed with Piggot now.

After that whole charade, I was being led to an infirmary area. They wanted to get me checked out after my battle with Hookwolf. I was brought there by Miss Militia which I like was glad off because Armsmaster was a little hard to hold a conversation with.

"So what is up with Assault?" I asked for lack of anything else to really ask Miss Militia. "And why does he seem dead set on manipulating my debut?"

"He and the Director have been going at it lately." She answered me.

"But how does that relate to me?"

"Because Assault wants to resist authority any way he can," Miss Militia sighed. "Which in turn causes the Director to punish him, but she doesn't get that Assault is stubborn enough to take monitor duty and clean the bathrooms for a year so long as he gets the last word. Director Piggot won't let him have it, giving him more duties, more pay cuts, and anything else she can give him. Causing Assault to escalate again, like he did with you tonight."

"That sounds like a feedback loop." I pointed out. From what I had seen of Piggot, she seemed exactly like the type of person to do what Miss Militia was describing. Though, it while it was odd to think of Assault as stubborn, it wasn't hard either.

"Something like that," Miss Militia agreed. "What eventually happens is that she either can't punish him anymore or gives up on that tactic and starts punishing the Brockton Bay Protectorate team as a whole, causing all of us to come down on his head. But it is only when Piggot starts making Battery's life harder that Assault actually lets up. But it doesn't do anything to stop this from starting all over again a month or two later."

"So, basically I'm going to be unofficially known as Muffin, the Destroyer and I'm going to thought to do magic because Assault and Director Piggot are measuring dictatorial powers?"

"... That is one way to put it."

We arrived at the infirmary at that moment. Miss Militia held the door open me as I plodded in. My hoofs made an annoying clicking sound on all the hard tiles on the way over and it was kind of getting on my nerves.

On the inside Panacea was laying her hands on Rune's face where her mask didn't cover. There were half a dozen PRT officers in the room with them, along with what looked like a massive pair of leather oven mitts secured to Rune's hands. I noted that the other infirmary beds were taken up by passed out gang members.

"It is sort of a halfway place," Miss Militia stated when she saw me looking. "We give anyone injured seriously in a cape fight treatment here before sending them to separated hospital care. The PRT headquarters does have its own hospital on site for such a thing."

When Miss Militia spoke Panacea raised her head from her work and looked at us. She was in an even worse state than the last time. She was pale, her eyes were sunken, her hair was frazzled and her eyes were boarding on blood shot. I couldn't think of one reasonable justification that anyone would let her be working this state.

"There you are," Panacea said, rising up from where she had been leaning over Rune. "I guess I have you to thank for all of this?"

"Sorry," I said weakly. It was bad enough to see her like she was about to collapse or have a heart attack, let alone dealing with the idea it might be my fault. "They were going to hurt people," I attempted to justify. Panacea waved me off.

"They always are," she answered in annoyance. "Get up on the bed, I'll take a quick look so we can all get home sometime tonight."

Recognizing talking about it wasn't going to help at all, I walked over to the bed and eyed the side of it before leaping up and flapping my wings once to get all four legs on the bed. I sat down as soon as I was up.

"May I heal you?" She asked. I nodded seriously, allowing her to reach out and touch my neck. She paused for a few seconds before she said anything.

"Your back is bruised and the circuits near your horn appear to be swelling. Your wings and mane have gotten a little longer since yesterday." Well, that was interesting I guess. The wings and mane were anyway. Was I growing bigger passively or was it something I did? Maybe a side effect of shifting from horse to human and back again?

"Hey, Panacea," I asked as she did some work on my back. I could feel some stiffness fading from that area. "When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?"

Panacea drew her hand away and practically hissed at me. "What does it matter to you."

"Cause you look like you're fucking dead!" Rune suddenly interjected, causing the PRT officers in the room to tense. Panacea and I turned to look at her. "I'm serious," she clarified. "You look like you could have actually died while healing me and no one would have noticed. Seriously, get some goddamn sleep."

You knew things were bad when even the white supremacist in the room was concerned for your health. A fact that Panacea seemed to take more of an annoyance than a sign that she might be in the wrong here.

"Maybe I would get more if the E88 didn't hurt so many people on a daily basis," Panacea snapped back at her. Suddenly her head whirled back to me. "And when it isn't E88 it's independents that end up hurting them worse than they hurt others. I'm beginning to think Armsmaster and Miss Militia are the only one capable of bringing people in without nearly killing them."

"Hey, fuck you!" Rune growled at her. "You think I wanted to be part of the E88? I just wanted to get away from my family." Panacea was about to say something but I cut her off, my own curiosity over ruling the venting I was decently sure she needed just as much as sleep.

"If you were wanting to get away, why not join the Wards or something?" I asked Rune. The part of her face that I could see looked taken aback a few steps at the question.

"I, uh, didn't trigger until after I got the criminal record. I didn't really have that option." That bit intrigued me a bit more. Rune had been part of Brockton Bay's E88 for a while now and I couldn't really think of a time when she wasn't, but that didn't mean she was necessarily sold on their ideas. Or at least, if she was, that didn't mean she wanted to be in a violent gang about it. When I looked at her now with pale skin and blond hair more on display now that parts of her costume had been removed, I could imagine her getting pressured into joining for years while she still was in school, assuming she wasn't. When it came to Brockton Bay if you weren't white or Asian you were pretty much screwed as far as gangs went. I had been lucky enough to be too scrawny and not nearly attractive enough to ever seriously hounded by the E88, but Rune? They probably had eyes on her for a long time. And if she wanted to get away from her family…

It all added up to one big string of events where the only outcome was her joining. And whether or not she could be legally redeemed and become a Ward, she didn't believe she could. And with Director Piggot, I was thinking she might not have been to far off.

As soon as Rune had said it, Miss Militia stepped forward and inserted herself into the conversation.

"Then why not try to get a deal with the Protectorate? You wouldn't have been the first villain that wanted to change sides." I could almost feel Rune rolling her eyes behind her visor.

"I'm a Nazi," Rune said. "Your PR department wouldn't touch me with a ten-foot poll, believe me, I tried."

Miss Militia frowned. "I don't recall any serious talks about you possibly coming over."

"I asked Armsmaster the last time he had me cornered."

"Ah." Miss Militia said disappointedly as if that explained everything. Made me wonder if I had misread Armsmaster earlier. He seemed nice enough, a little serious and a little monotone sometimes, but nothing that suggested he would be particularly mean to a villain wanting to be a hero like this. Or did he really just dislike Nazis?

"Alright," I stated before Panacea or anyone else had a chance to interrupt. "Then maybe all three of us need to change." I suggested it light heartedly, but Panacea scowled and Rune frowned.

"Like some sort of AA meeting?" Rune asked disapprovingly. "A Nazi, workaholic, and a cartoon horse all get stuck in a hospital room together and help with each other's problems?"

"It sounds cheesy, I know." I answered her. "But I think we need it." Or rather, Panacea did. Putting myself there with her made it seem more like doing something together rather than doing something for her. Including Rune made it seem less like I was targeting her specifically. Besides, Rune didn't seem like a bad person. At least not on the surface, the way she described it didn't necessarily mean she wasn't a racist, but it did show she didn't like the E88 any more than I did. Making this about the three of us increased the chance it worked for at least one of those two.

And besides that, everyone tended to want help. They secretly wanted someone to assist them but didn't want to admit it. Doing things this way allowed Panacea get help under the guise of rehabilitating Rune.

"We each have something to help another with," I clarified. "Rune, you want to get away from E88, right?" As soon as I said that I realized that wasn't what Rune had actually said. She stated she hadn't wanted to join, she was just trying to get away from her family. But she has been a member for a long time, she might not actually want to leave.

It almost seem like she was going to confirm that when she hesitated to answer. She quirked a lips in thought for a moment. After a second she said,

"Yeah, I think so."

"Then what better way while in prison. If Miss Militia could get the ball rolling on re-branding you and setting you up, maybe you could become a Ward after some time." I turned and looked at Miss Militia, who hesitated to answer.

"I can start the process," she said slowly. "But you are going to have to start serving your sentence for your crimes before I can get you an answer. With luck, you'll get taken out on probation and made a partial member."

Rune took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, okay. If I'm going to prison anyway might as well."

Well, that small success made me a little happier at least.

"And you Panacea," I said, pointing a hoof at her. "You need to get some sleep. Take a break, relax a bit. Anything to stop you from looking like this zombie you've become.

"I have people that need to get healed," Panacea said bitterly. "They aren't going to get better with me sleeping."

"No one wants a Panacea that looks like she might pass out working on her," I said, pointing at her with a hoof. "What if you passed out on a patient." Panacea opened her mouth a little as if to answer but then stopped herself and a slight blush creeps into her cheeks. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"That's happened before, hasn't it?" I asked. Panacea's blush intensified.

"I'm going to side with the horse," Rune stated. "You look absolutely horrible. And I'm not just saying that because I want to be on the horse's good side. Though, it would also be nice if I was."

I gave her an odd look out of the corner of my eye before saying, "It's Nova. The name is Nova." Rune nodded but didn't say anything. I sighed and shook my head. "Can you promise to do that? To get sleep?"

Panacea crossed her arms and scowled. "I don't see why I should be making deals and promises with you. Let alone one that causes more people to suffer in the long run."

"Because you're going to self destruct." I told her flatly. I seen my dad do it once. I wasn't going to watch it happen again. If I do as my dad asks, I'm going to be seeing much more of New Wave. And I simply wasn't going to let it happen. "You get sleep, Rune becomes a Ward, I stop shooting rocks through people's legs. Three way deal. Are you in?"

Panacea's scowl deepened for a moment, but she saw there was no way to talk herself out of this without completely blowing me off. When that sank in, she said,

"Fine, if it gets you to stop seriously hurting people."

I smiled at her. "Good. Then Panacea," I said, turning back to face her again, "let's meet in two weeks so we can both prove that we're holding up our ends of the bargin." Not to say I didn't trust her, but I totally didn't trust her. Someone willing to push themselves past the brink of sleep deprivation this much was far too dedicated to an idea than they should be.

"Salova's on the Boardwalk." I told her. I can't say why I picked the location. It was a burger joint that wasn't nearly as hole-in-the-wall as Fugly Bob's. It was the kind of place that had outdoor seating with tall umbrellas covering each table to you could comfortably look at the ocean while you ate. It struck a nice balance between casually grabbing a bite to eat while still being able to sit down and chat.

It was also where Emma and I used to go sometimes.

Panacea let out an exasperated sighed. "Fine, fine. I'll do it." She grumbled something else under her breath but I didn't catch it. I nodded seriously and stood up on the bed, stretching my wings out wide. Some of the feathers were crooked, I noted. I'll probably have to straighten them later.

"Then I'll see you in two weeks."

"Hey, what about me?" I turned and looked at Rune as she asked the question.

"What do you mean?" I asked curiously.

"I mean I'm part of this deal too. You could swing by my prison cell."

"I just might." I started with a smile before hopping off the bed. I could see what she was doing. She wanted to be included, btu she also didn't left alone in a prison cell. I imagened it could get awful boring.

Miss Militia nodded respectfully to me as I turned towards her and the door. If she had something to say on what just happened she didn't say it, choosing to lead me out of the infirmary and then out of the building silently accept for a light hearted goodbye. I waved a hoof at her in return and walked off in the vague direction of home. I had to duck away from some people that had shown up because of Assault's live stream.

Celestia help me, was that person holding a sign with Muffin, the Destroyer written on it? And was that drawing supposed to be me?

I shook the thoughts of bucking that person repeatedly out of my head and attempted to make my way home without drawing attention. I had enough to think about just trying to explain this to my dad.

A/N: So this is a little long because I wanted to finish up the PRT scenes in this chapter.

Also, I find it odd people would think Equestrian aspects would conflict with Scion's conflict shards. The entire premise of MLP is that antagonist rise up and threaten harmony and the mane 6 have to beat them back. (Looking at you Stalin Glimmer)

Edit: Just for the people asking about the legal parts of this, officially Piggot was only talking to Taylor about what she did in the since of the PRT giving consul to upcoming heros of the ins and outs they might not be aware of. Of course, that wasn't what she used it for. And she wasn't needling for her to join the Wards, she was just asking her if she planned to. This was an interrogation in everything but name, but she is leveraging her own knowledge of legal proceedings against Taylor.

And Assault's live stream only started when Armsmaster asked her to lift the strange device with her power.


	7. Chapter 7

I was conscious of the fact that a cartoon horse is a pretty noticeable thing, and going into my house through the front door was probably not the greatest way to keep my secret.

Instead, I let my magic spread out over its radius, allowing me to feel the details of people and where they were in their houses. Most were asleep, some weren't home, one or two were up and about watching TV, and a particular trio I felt like my cartoon powers should be censoring. In fact, is more disturbing they weren't.

Pulling my magic away from that house in particular, yes the whole house for various reasons, I sneaked towards my backyard through the thin gaps in between the poorly constructed fences in the neighboring houses. Confident no one was watching, I came in through the back door.

The first thing I checked was the clock. Two in the morning. I heaved a sigh, I was out much longer than I had intended. But what was more annoying was how catching up on that sleep was going to cut into my activities tomorrow. I need to do some more studying of my power, particularly the plants. I was also going to need some way to carry stuff with me in pony form. After some time I had decided this form didn't need clothing and my fur kept me at perfect temperature nearly all of the time so long as I wasn't facing anything extreme. So without pockets, my first thought was a backpack. The space between my wings was roughly large enough to place a small backpack, but the idea of putting one there and securing it felt like it would be more trouble than it was worth.

Instead, maybe I could jury rig to bags together and make them into makeshift saddlebags. I wasn't sure how I could put them on without interfering with my wings while they were resting, but I was sure there was a way. It would just take a bit of work to get right.

I thought about the other things I was planning on doing as I made my way to my room for the night. I needed a good number of things. Lots of flowers, some fruits and vegetables to try, and a big note book to put everything I find inside of it. Given that each flower had its own effect and I could probably combine them to some degree, it would likely need its own note book.

My energy, magic now thanks to a certain hero, seemed more capable than I gave it credit for at first. It created the bubble shield for me, something that was definitely not telekinesis. If there were other effects to be had, I needed to discover them. Maybe another notebook on that.

Finally, I need to learn how to fly. It was important for my cape persona, to be able to swoop in and save people from danger. A little story book, maybe, but with the obvious issues I was already going to be having with just the way I look, a little story book might go a long way.

Resigning myself to deal with any and all of that in the morning I collapsed on my bed and felt a wave of fatigue wash over me. Both in the physical and metaphysical. I closed my eyes and made sure my last thoughts before passing out was about being human.

I woke up to heavy knocking at my door. With a groan, I rolled out of bed and shambled my way to it. I was in human form again, thankfully. I had a lot of things I wanted to do today and most of them couldn't be done in Alicorn form, the name Miss Militia had given it. I like the sound of that. Alicorn. It was distinctive, and better than pegacorn.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes as I opened my bedroom door. My hair was flawless, completely unaffected by last night's rest, but that didn't stop my eyes from crusting and my shirt from wrinkling.

My door opened to reveal my dad on the other side of it. He was in his work clothes and looking incredibly tired. I briefly wondered if he had stayed up out of worry last night but dismissed the thought. He knew I was going out. And while he didn't know how long or what all that occurred, I couldn't imagine him putting himself out like that when he knew where I was and what I was doing.

That was, unless he saw Assault's PHO account recently.

"Taylor," Dad said awkwardly. "I was, um, wondering if you were planning on going to school."

The question surprised me. The mere thought of school had completely slipped my mind in the wake of all that was going on. Compared to last nights adventure, school seemed so minor to what I needed to get done. Now that dad just reminded me that it was Thursday the thought of going to school was souring my mood.

"I wasn't planning on it," I said slowly, gauging how he would react to it. He nodded as if he expected it and said,

"Then when are you planning on going back? I realize this whole power situation has got you excited, but school is important too."

I bit my lip to hold back a retort. Math and programming were the only classes I was actually learning anything in, and not for lack of trying. Every other class hardly taught a thing worth knowing, and I doubted math and programming were going to be any use to me with my current career choice. Assuming it could be a career choice. I haven't really given much thought as to how I could make money doing this. Maybe take it from the gangs?

That seemed like something the local PRT would get on my case about, and I didn't want to give Director Piggot anything more to use against me. I'll have to look into it.

"Maybe two weeks," I suggested. I wasn't in all that of a hurry to get back, but I felt like if I waited any longer than two weeks I was never going to get around to it at all.

Dad frowned. "That's waiting quite a while, isn't it? You might fall behind."

I sighed. "Dad, I lost several pounds of weight and packed on twice that in muscle all over my body." I wasn't sure how much of that was true, but it sounded good and Dad got my point. I had gone from being a little on the chubby side with horrible fat distribution to incredibly toned.

"On top of that my hair is an entirely different colour and my entire face changed structure. Two weeks will give enough time for people to forget my face enough and possibly explain my other physical changes." I already knew I was going to be facing scathing comments about liposuction and plastic surgery, not to mention how the three meanies were going to punish me for daring to become just as pretty as they were. On top of that, trying to wear moderate clothing and trying to avoid attention was going to work anymore. Not with this hair. And once I start getting attention, it was going to bring them down on me even harder. I was not looking forward to going back at all.

"Two weeks is still a pretty short time for a change like this," my father pointed out.

I nodded in agreement. "Yes, but at that point, all it will do is raise a few eyebrows. If I showed up like this today it will cause some alarm. Not to mention I…" I stopped myself, but it was too late. I had slipped up.

"You what?" My dad asked.

"I sort of, debuted last night and now a lot of people know about a new cape who happens to be a cartoon horse."

My father's expression dropped and mouth deepened into a frown. It was a little disturbing to see him go from the calm and rather caring man he was before to this. Luckily, he was still just as patient.

"What happened?" He asked seriously. I took a deep breath and started to tell him. I started with training, but left out the part about the floors as it would only confuse things. Then moved on to the fight with Hookwolf and Rune, again leaving out some details that would only derail the discussion. Like how exactly I had taken them both down.

I then explain my meeting with the Protectorate and local PRT. I skipped over Piggott's intimidation techniques in my story and moved rather quickly through my talk with Panacea and Rune, getting to the end of it rather quickly so I could say I got home a relatively earlier hour. Which I didn't.

"Taylor, this could be a massive problem," Dad said. I nodded glumly.

"I know, but I have a plan."

"I hope so," he said with a nod. "Because this might mean your identity is already compromised."

I gave him an odd look. "What do you mean?" I knew there would be some similarities between my hair and Nova's mane, but that surely wasn't enough to out me, was it?

"Taylor, that mark you said was on your flank, it's on your cheek. Right underneath your right eye."

I felt my eyes widen as I raised my hand up to feel it. All I was met with was smooth skin, but I doubted my dad was lying to me. I silently cursed my power. This just became a lot harder.

"I'll have to cover it up with makeup," I said glumly. I had never really used makeup before, but Emma had shown me the ropes. I figured if I just put foundation over it and blended the edges so it didn't stick out I should be fine. The real pain would be getting and using makeup.

"I think one of Annette's old kits is still in one of the drawers in the bathroom," Dad said. He looked me up and down and sighed. "If you don't plan on going to school, do you know what you are going to do today?"

"I was going to go shopping for some cape stuff I'll need."

"That's good, you should be prepared. Here," he reached down and pulled out his wallet. From inside, he pulled out three twenties and handed them to me.

I took the cash tentatively. It was more than he had ever given to me before, and we didn't normally have that much to spare. The fact that he carried around sixty dollars cash surprised me. Particularly given what city we lived in.

"Are you sure?" I asked. I didn't want him to be hindering himself for me be giving all his cash over just so I could go out and buy flowers. Dear Celestia, I'm buying flowers with the money he thought was going to be used to buy me something to defend myself with.

"Yes," Dad told me. "If it is for your night time activities, then I'm sure. Just be safe." He moved forward and gave me a kiss on the top of my head before turning around. "See you later tonight," he told me.

"See you," I answered before shutting my door. I turned and looked at my room, my eyes gravitating toward my closet. I needed a change of clothes, and then it was off to The Market.

Despite not feeling like I needed a shower, I took one anyway for the sake of normalcy. No longer feeling like I needed to hide my body, I had pulled on one of the t-shirts that actually fit me well and a pair of jeans that weren't so baggy I had to wear a belt to keep them up. I had also foregone a heavy sweatshirt.

I was now walking down the Lord Street Market, a patch of makeup on my right cheek over my mark. It wasn't the weekend so many of the stalls were empty, but there was still plenty to see and be had. Although, oddly enough it was the normal people walking around that seemed the most scarce. It made for an oddly quiet atmosphere.

The Enforcers were prowling about with an odd amount of activity in their movements. And while there was a normal amount of stalls out for a week day, the people seemed guarded and closed off.

I recognized the signs. This was the behaviour that normally followed large gang movement.

If shops and people closed their doors every time there was a shift in power in Brockton Bay they might as well just close their door permanently because they would go bankrupt. But that didn't mean the same for the people that did the shopping. Living in Brockton Bay people got used to things, which accounted for the people that were already here and out shopping. But there was undoubtedly a large portion deciding to stay indoors today.

Of course, that made it easier for me to go from stall to stall looking at the different flowers out on display.

I wasn't sure exactly what gang movements had been made, but I could take an educated guess. With Assault broadcasting my existence to the world that undoubtedly led to increased attention to Hookwolf's arrest. With Hookwolf basically being the Empire's version of Lung, they seemed weak at the moment. Causing the ABB and probably the Merchants to attempt to take some territory. There haven't been any reports of cape battles yet, or at least I haven't seen or heard them, so likely any conflict had been just between the normal human members so far. But it was only a matter of time before a cape fight broke out, which made coming outside at all a gamble.

However, I wasn't going to waste a chance to better prepare on the odds that a cape battle might happen and I might be in the wrong place at the wrong time to be seriously injured by it.

As I found a stall with a wide variety of plants, the stall being owned by a flower shop, I felt a touch of excitement as I looked them over. If every plant here had a different effect and could be combined somehow I could have dozens of little backup powers. The dandelion had given me a stamina boost I had decided when I thought about it today. And the daisy had given me increased perception. With all of these, I could only imagine the minor powers I could make.

I was in the middle of looking them over when I noticed some gang members hanging around an alleyway. The reason they caught my eye was because they were wearing different colours to any gang in the area. White and gold.

My curiosity got the best of me and I tore myself away from the flowers for a moment to study them. They weren't of any particular race and they clearly weren't drug fiends like The Merchants. Two of them were white, one was black, and there was a fourth member that was Asian. The Asian being the only woman in the group.

Ironically, the Merchants had been the only non-racial gang in the city before. Making these newcomers particularly interesting to me. It was a bold move to claim territory from the Empire or ABB, especially when just starting out.

They were unknowns, someone I needed to learn more about before going out on patrols at night. The only question became, how could I figure out more?

Well, the simple choice would be to ask them.

Gangs tended to not be as closed off and as secretive as people thought they were. In truth, they wanted people to know how strong they were. They wanted people to know exactly what their message and goals were and what capes they had backing them. With the exception of Coil's mercenary gang, almost all gangs liked boasting enough that walking up to a gang member and asking them about the gang usually led to some honest answers, if incredibly bias.

"Hey," I said, walking up to one of the white male members. Just because they seemed to include members of all races didn't mean they didn't something in place regarding them. It might have seemed paranoid, but better to err on the side of caution and talk to a member of the same race as me.

"What do you want?" The ganger asked suspiciously. He eyed my hair for a moment before turning his gaze back at me. His friends had fallen silent and were staring at me too. Strangely, I didn't feel nervous at all. I felt like if this went sour I could get away pretty easily, and there were Enforcers all over the place to deal with them if I couldn't.

"I haven't seen your colours around before," I said factually. "Are you new?"

The gang member smirked. "Yeah, just moved in last night," he said gruffly, and slightly proud. "Nicked some territory around here from the Empire."

"Pretty bold," I told him. He and his friends smiled stupidly at each other with undeserved pride. "You must have some pretty strong capes backing you then."

"Eh," the gang member shrugged. "We might."

"You guys got a name then?"

"Why?" The Asian woman asked. Although she was smiling too, she didn't seem at ease with my questions like the others did. "You thinking of joining?"

I shrugged and looked away like I was trying to feign disinterest. "How can I be looking to join? I don't know your name, what capes you got leading you, or what your motive is. You, not racists, clearly. So what are you?" The Asian woman opened her mouth to answer me when the man I had started talking to originally held out his and shushed her with a smug grin.

"The girl wants to know, so let's tell her," he said with a cocky attitude. The woman looked a little put out but she didn't say anything. The man turned back to me and said,

"We're The Workers. Small time mostly, but from what I hear a bunch of gangs like us cropped up last night. And like you said, we're not racists. The Workers aren't looking to push any sort of message like these other gangs. We take anyone who wants some easy pay and is willing to put in the work."

That last bit was hard to believe. Maybe it was just my time in Brockton Bay tainting my view on it, but people made gangs around ideas. Sure, sometimes the idea is simply gaining power and money, but the ABB is the closest we have to that and even they unify under their Asian heritage. Gangs like The Workers didn't tend to last long.

"And who's protecting you from the Kaiser?" I asked. The guy kept his smirk grin and shrugged.

"A guy going by the name Sapien. Don't know much about him. Some sort of Thinker probably." He glanced at his friends for a moment before returning his look back at me. "So," he began, "Sound like something you might be interested in? We got jobs for a hundred dollars a night just moving some boxes into some moving vans. You look like you could handle it."

"I might be," I said. If it gave them a reason to keep talking, I might as well act like I'm interested in joining. "You said there were other ones like you cropping up?"

"Just what I heard," he said with a shrug. "I bunch of small timers like us that had just been waiting for a chance to nip some territory. You'll have to talk to one of my higher ups if you want to know more. Of course, that only comes with full membership."

"Thanks, I'll think about it." I turned on my heels and started walking away before they could say anything else. I heard at least one of them snickering as I walked on.

New gangs so soon after Hookwolf was arrested. They would have had to move in last night, but the PRT hasn't even released a statement on his arrest yet. That meant they had somehow heard about it sooner. And not just one gang, but apparently several. Troubling.

I needed to add some more things to my shopping list.

About an hour later I was walked towards the end of the Lord Street Market to the bus stop with two large baskets filled with supplies. One for each hand. One was filled with flowers and fruits of all kinds, the other with more conventional stuff I would need.

I had just about made it to the bus stop when I felt someone grab onto my wrist. I turned as blinked in surprise as I saw a girl that was very clearly homeless gripping my wrist tightly. She had dirty blonde hair, both in the sense it was greasy and its colour, and freckles that covered the bridge of her nose. Her clothing was in complete and utter shambles, looking like they had barely been together when she got them then proceeded to wear them for a few weeks.

"Hello, there. I'm going to need to borrow you for a minute." She said, a vulpine grin spreading across her face.

I noticed some of the Boardwalk's Enforcer's walking this way and I got a bad feeling I was about to get into something I really didn't want to be a part of.


	8. Chapter 8

"So those guys there are not Enforcers and I'm not as homeless as you think I am," she said as she practically dragged me towards the bus stop I was heading to anyway. She had taken one of my baskets and was carrying it in her other hand so she could casually hold mine tightly. I was practically her hostage.

"Why? What? Who?" I had so many questions that maybe it was better I lapsed into caveman speak to say them. The girl glanced back at our tails before saying,

"I don't know. I stole a lot of money from some rich people, could be that. But I don't think so, I covered my tracks pretty well. You should already know the 'What', they want to capture me, maybe kill me but I doubt it. And I'm Lisa by the way.

"Um, Taylor," I muddled through my introduction. "And how do you know all this?" Lisa gave me a look just as they approached the bus stop. There were some people about, making it so the faux Enforcers couldn't step in without making a scene. Lisa pulled us to the far side of them and pulled me close. I felt a blush rise up to my face as she began whispering into my ear. Between that and the way she was holding my hand, I had no doubts about what everyone around was thinking. Coupled with the fact that I was very cleanly dressed while she wasn't only added to the embarrassment of what they might have been thinking.

"I have a power that lets me know things," she whispered. That drew me back a few steps in my think and raised so many more questions. I decided to start tackling them one at a time and hope they don't raise any more questions. I didn't have high hopes.

"Why are you telling me?" I whispered back.

"Because you are a hero, or at least trying to." I bit back annoyance when she said that. I suppose it shouldn't have been that big of a deal, she did reveal her power to me first and she didn't reveal me to a whole bunch people. But even I knew this was poor form.

Suddenly, Lisa stopped holding herself like she was whispering in my ear and laid her head on my shoulder and I froze.

"Lisa," I whispered. "What are you doing?"

"The old lady thinks we're a cute couple," Lisa answered causing my blush to deepen. "The two guys are kind of in the closet. The man closest to us just discovered his newest kink and the other woman next to the aforementioned old lady is proud at such a public display of affection. The edgy teenager just doesn't like the Enforcers as a whole. If the Enforcer touches either one of us they probably won't stand for it. And I'd bet more than one will think the Enforcer actually part of the E88. So long as we stay like this there is a decent chance he isn't going to stop us."

"A decent chance?"

"Well, if we kissed he won't touch us at all."

"No." I said firmly.

"Fair enough."

The Enforcer stopped a few feet away from the stop and eyed us seriously for a few moments. A buddy joined him a moment later and they started arguing with themselves quietly. After a moment one of them brought out a phone and made a call. The second one just stared at us the entire time his friend was on the phone. After a minute his buddy hung up and the exchanged a quick word. After that, they just silently stared at us until the bus came.

Lisa pulled me onto the bus before everyone else and we were in a seat near the very back by the time I realized what exactly was happening. She let go of my hand finally gave me space. I let out a sigh of relief and felt the heat on my cheeks starting to fade.

"Thanks for that," Lisa said.

"You're welcome?" I wasn't sure what exactly I was supposed to say. I did save her from some Enforcers, but on the other hand she knows I'm a cape. But I know she is also a cape so it kind of goes both ways.

"Now, question." Lisa started. "Do you mind if I came over and used your shower?"

Sometime later I was back at my house and I some how got talked into letting Lisa use my shower. This whole encounter seemed kind of surreal, but I was quickly adjusting. Now that Lisa was out of sight for a minute, I could settle down and get serious.

I pulled out a map of Brockton Bay and spread it out on my dinning room table. Next, I grabbed several coloured markers I had bought. The first thing I did was uncap a red marker and began outlining the ABB territory that I knew of with it. When I was done with that I took up a blue marker and drew the lines around the Empire territory. Both would have changed a little since last night, and there was bound to be much more drastic changes over the next couple of days. But these were the hard boundaries that have changed for a long time, and more than likely they weren't going to change all that much.

I went to my room and grabbed my old laptop, setting it up at the table starting the booting process while I went back to the map. Next, I outlined The Merchants with a green marker. Their territory has been in flux ever since they took some here in the city, but every time they got annoying they would be beaten back by the others and their territory wouldn't really grow at all.

I took up a grey marker and let my gaze move to the Boardwalk around Lord Street. The Boardwalk was an odd place as far as gang activity went. It had a line of sight with the oil rig that the Protectorate Headquarters sat on and usually had incredibly fast response time from them. The Enforcers didn't have an allegiance with any of the gangs and would throw members out given the chance. But the Boardwalk was lucrative territory, and even with those two deterrents they couldn't stay away.

As a solution to this, the Boardwalk was a sort of pseudo neutral zone between the gangs. Each one save for the Merchants had a finger in the pie. The ABB had most of the restaurants, the Empire had most of the stores. Coil was there presumably, but I didn't know what he had.

All the gangs had a mutual understanding around the Boardwalk, if no one causes trouble they all get a piece of it.

So when guessing where exactly The Workers had set up became the real question. It obviously couldn't be on the Boardwalk itself, so it had to be somewhere just behind it and close enough to Lord Street to warrant have some gang members stay around.

After some consideration, I tentatively circled a small area where I guessed they would be. In the corner of my map I wrote with the same grey marker: The Workers, lead by Sapien.

With that done, I move back over to my laptop now that it had finished booting up and started doing some research.

The ABB and the Empire had been part of Brockton Bay for so long I couldn't remember a time where they weren't. The only changes over the years had been when Coil and The Merchants carved out places for themselves. Since then there has been a three-way power struggled between the three of them that actually matter.

Over that time, small groups like The Workers had come and gone like clockwork. They rose up when there was a power vacuum no matter how small, and then when they became too much a problem they were put down by the other gangs. They are like the Merchants Mark One because of the way they stole territory that was too invaluable to squabble over when the stronger gangs just lost some fire power.

So, doing about ten minutes of research I found all of the most common locations in the city for small time gangs to take during these power struggles. There were six in total. One the Merchants already had, and one a noted with a touch of pride I had already circled near Lord street.

Returning to the map I outlined the four other possible locations as where the other new gangs The Workers mentioned might be holed up in.

At that moment Lisa appeared at the table in one of my t-shirts and a pair of my jeans and glanced over my map. Her hair was clean and combed now, hanging loosely around her shoulders. It looked much better that way.

"Already noticing the new gang movement?" She asked without looking away from my map.

"Why are you wearing my clothes?" I asked, a little shocked.

"Because you don't want these." She said with a wave of her hand. "This shirt would have exposed your midriff and you wouldn't like the way these jeans hugged you. So I figured I'd borrow them. Beats the rags I was wearing."

I bit back any complaints I had. She was right, of course, and those jeans hugged her just as much as they would have hugged me.

"So," Lisa said, pulling out a chair from the dining table and slumping into it. "You want to know about these other gangs?"

I raised an eyebrow at her. "They only just popped up last night. How could you have heard about them?"

"I was out on the streets, obviously," She answered. "I heard a few things, and anything I didn't my power told me."

Right, her power to know things. Like that didn't sound rather broken.

"About that," I started. "Exactly what does your power do?" If Lisa was going to be hanging around like it seemed she on doing, I might as well get to know what her power actually was. That and some of the things she knew were a little concerning.

Lisa grinned at me before answering. "Knowledge. It's like hyper intuition. Like Sherlock Holmes."

I shook my head. "That sounds a little ridiculous."

"It's not as powerful as you think it is. Now," Lisa moved forward and leaned over the map, grabbing the grey marker I had used to draw the small territories. "I don't know where they're situated at, but I know some names." She started writing down some things just under where I had put The Workers.

"You have a group called Pedites lead by some cape calling themselves Plebeian. Then there is a group called The Doctors with a cape named Proletariat. Finally, there is a group called Industry. From what I can tell they have a cape called Civis. And no, I don't which territory belongs to which and I don't know what abilities these capes have. Although…" She trailed off.

"What?" I prompted.

"They all seem to have operated rather similarly. With Hookwolf gone The Empire will be fighting the ABB and can't spare the time to go after these small time gangs. Giving them a chance to set shop. And depending on what these capes of theirs can actually do, they might just stick around."

"That sounds like it could be a problem." One thing that tended to hurt everyone is more permanent shifts in power like this. The possible consequences for these new gangs just being there could be almost anything. Not to mention if the four of them decided they all had a better chance if they worked together.

Something about these new groups really bothered me. I couldn't quite tell what it was, but something about them made them feel more dangerous than they should have felt. It was almost as if-

"Uh, Taylor," Lisa interrupted. "You're turning white." I opened my eyes, once again not realizing I had closed them, and looked down to see my skin was indeed a milky white. I cursed myself, I was too focused on these smaller gangs that I had stopped focusing on staying in my human form.

I swallowed and started focusing again. Thankfully, my skin The to go back to its normal skin tone almost immediately. I let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that while it took an hour to go from horse to human, it didn't take nearly as long just to reverse the effects of starting human to horse transformation.

"Alright," Lisa said with a shake of her head. "I gotta know now, what exactly is your power? I can't get a read on you."

I opened my mouth to answer, but stopped myself. I didn't know Lisa, she could be anyone. Sure, I had let her use my shower, but she had really needed it and I just saved her from getting kidnapped or killed. If you could call it saving when I really just got used as an escape route.

"Come on!" Lisa said with a roll of her eyes. "I know you're a cape, that much is for certain, and I know where you live. If I actually wanted to harm you in any way I would already have a leg up on the competition."

"That's reassuring," I told her sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at me.

"Look," she said, becoming much more serious. "I picked you out of the crowd to help me because I know that you're trying to be a hero. I know that you're trying to do good so let me tell you my options.

"One, I go back on the street like I had been before. With my power I could probably get a nice set up over time. I already have plenty of money, just no way to use it yet without it getting tracked back to me. I can solve that too, but it'll take time. So until then, I'm homeless. Which means at any point whoever sent those goons after me today can try again and next time you won't be around to help me.

"Two, I could go to one of the gangs for protection. They way I look though that means I have to join the Empire or take a chance with one of these new gangs. Not exactly a great choice if you catch my drift.

"Three, I can join a local independent hero. I get protection from them and they get my intelligence to back them. All things considered, that is my best choice."

"You forgot going to the Protectorate." I pointed out.

"Not an option," Lisa said with a frown. "And before you ask, I don't want to talk about it."

I let out a heavy sigh. "So basically, you want to form an independent hero team with me and if I refuse, you go back on the streets and end up in the hands of whoever sent the fake Enforcers after you. That about sum it up?"

"Basically yeah." A refreshed vulpine grin spread across Lisa's face. "And really, wouldn't a Thinker power like mine be nice to have?"

Well, she wasn't wrong.

Letting out another sigh, I reached for my ancient laptop and started pulling up Assault's PHO account. It looked like he was temporarily banned but his posts were still up. It looked like there were thirty pages of responses.

As I pulled them up I found that the Armsmaster had released a statement to the public about Hookwolf's arrest. Eagerly, I scanned through the article and found several mentions of Nova, including an outright statement linking me to Assault's posts. When the press asked him questions about my appearance he gave no comment. I wasn't sure how to feel about that but decided it was probably for the better. There really was no explanation for the horse thing and I had convinced them all that I was a Case 53. A little extra cover on my identity.

Leaving the pages up, I turned the computer to Lisa and rose up out of my seat.

"I have some practicing to get done, so I'm going to go get into my cape appearance. Read that while I'm gone."

For better or worse, I left Lisa with my laptop and those web pages to go turn into my horse form. It would appear that I now had both a teammate and yet another awkward conversation with my father.

A/N So two things about Lisa:

1) It was stated that she had stole not only from her parents but also several other rich people and covered her tracks when Coil had captured her and recurited her. Yet she was still in pretty bad shape and looking pretty homeless when he got her. Her not being able to use the money because it would cause her to get noticed is my explaination for that.

2) Lisa's power can work on Taylor when she is human, but when she goes horse it just stops working correctly. This is mostly because her shard will continuously think of Taylor's powers as if they also came from shards, which they generally don't.


	9. Chapter 9

I was physically, metaphysically, and emotionally exhausted. I had spent the last few hours charging the dozens of plants I had purchased with power before noting down the effects in my note book. Lisa had helped me at first, but at about the time we discovered that I could also charge vegetable oil with my 'magic' she said she was starting to get a headache. After that, she resigned herself to writing things down for me so I don't have to waste any more magic than I already had to lifting the pen and writing.

It was kind of funny how the term 'magic' grew on me. And like Armsmaster had said, it wasn't like any sort of energy he had seen before, and judging from the way it let me power flowers it didn't work like energy either.

Thinking back, I found myself amused at the memory of Lisa's expression when I came back into the room as a small pony. She must have put it together while I was gone, but she still seemed shocked. Even swore a little.

I took that amusement and latched into a strawberry we had not charged, pouring the emotion into it and once again leaving myself drained. Each plant required me to dig for a different emotion and each time I felt a little more and more worn down. What was worse was that I had to test the effects of each without knowing beforehand what I was getting into. It led to some awkward moments when I would take a bite of one and the effects were a little more than comfortable. Lisa had a field day when we found out Lilac makes someone more truthful

I sighed and flopped down on the floor, causing Lisa to look away from what she was doing. Currently, she was standing at the stove with the notebook of notes and several plants I had already charged. She plucked a dandelion from the mass of flowers around her before crushing it up in a bowl. After several moments, she decided it was crushed enough and added it to the pot she was cooking with. I watched her curiously as she stirred it then sampled it with a spoon. She made a sort of 'not bad' expression before putting the spoon down and pouring the contents out into a glass.

She brought it over to me and set it down on the floor where I had collapsed. I eyed it curiously.

"What's in it?" I asked her.

"Orange peels, olive oil, and dandelions." She listed. "Figured you could use a pick me up." I smiled back at her and grabbed the glass with my hoof, my not-finger's assisting. Lisa went wide eyed when she saw that.

"The hell?" She murmured to herself as she watched my hoof hold the glass without fingers. I smirked at her and lifted the concoction to my lips.

Orange peels had to be charged with a sense of growth and the dandelion with determination, both gave a similar effect of increasing stamina and energy. The olive oil as far as we could tell simply increased the effects of whatever it was mixed with. Between the three of them, I could feel physical energy flowing through my veins and adrenalin kicking in.

Not to mention how absolutely amazing it tasted! The orange peel and dandelions both had really strong, citrusy flavours and the olive oil was a more subtle bitter flavour. But overall it seemed more fruity than anything.

After I chugged down the glass I felt ready to get back at it, but I was still tired in all the other ways so it would have to wait. I checked the clock, it was about eight. My dad phoned ahead and told me he would be working late tonight, which gave me a chance to warn him about our unwanted house guest. There would be more discussion on that later, but for now I was in the clear.

"Lisa," I began. "I'm going to head out for the night, I'm going to call New Wave and get some backup. Do you think you could start mixing all of these together?" I pushed forward the blueberries and daffodils I had charged. I didn't know what they did, eating them hadn't revealed anything to me. But I was fairly sure they could be combined because they used the same emotion to charge them. Love.

Not the romantic kind of love, thankfully because I simply didn't have the experiences to draw from on that front. But it seemed the kind of love you feel for a close friend or a father would work. And so they were all charged.

Lisa raised an eyebrow at them and then me. "Are you sure," she asked. "They might all turn out to be useless."

I shook my head. "They won't." Being a cartoon horse unable to swear meant I followed certain cartoon aspects. Following that logic, nothing I charged with 'the power of love' so to speak was going to be useless. Cliche in all the right ways, but not useless.

"Now," I said, jerking my head at the phone on the wall. "You think you could bring that down here?"

Calling New Wave was a little awkward, as it wasn't like I had any of their numbers. Instead I called their help line again and awkwardly got Victoria on the phone. Apparently she was actually going on patrol with one of the Wards tonight. After a few minutes, we scheduled a meeting place near the Medhall building. Being one of the taller structures in the bay is made for an easy landmark.

I showed up about an hour in a half early. We'd meet at ten and patrol the area for another hour in a half, then the Ward Glory Girl forgot to mention would have to head back and do the night's report before going home. Got to have enough rest for school in the morning I guess.

While I waited I practiced using my wings. For the most part, I was leaping from building to building, stretching my wings out for a short glide or giving them a quick flap to gain a few more moments of air time. As it turned out, using my wings had been just like using my legs. I just had to let them do what felt natural and try not to think about how I was moving them too much.

After about fifteen minutes I chanced legitimate flying, staying close to the roof tops in case I needed to make a quick landing. Somewhat surprisingly, taking off was rather easy. Even staying in the air was easy, so long as I stuck to a straight line and don't try to actually steer. Landing though, was another story.

The first time I wasn't holding my legs right and I went face first into some store's roof almost immediately. After brushing myself off and trying again, I managed to figure out how to circle in the air before going in for my landing. I got my feet on the ground that time, but I wasn't prepared for the momentum to carry me. And once again, I ended up face first on a roof top, only the owner had decided to cover their entire roof with gravel for whatever reason.

After managing to make a wobbling landing on my third try, I decided to take a break for a few minutes. I have to do some more practising just so I don't look like an idiot when the other two show up, but for now I had gravel dust in my coat and my feathers were sticking out at odd angles.

I walked up the centre of the roof and focused my magic on my fur. I was still a little worn out from my experiments with Lisa earlier, but I had recovered for the most part. From what I could tell, my magic returned at about the same pace no matter how much or how hard I used it. I still wasn't sure how fast that pace was, but it seemed that after a good hour of rest I would be mostly fine.

It took a few tries to find a way to clean my coat with my magic, but once I got started it was relatively easy. I got it down enough that I could just flash my magic a little and anything I didn't want on me was forced away.

My feathers took a little more work. I stretched my wings out as far as they would go, revealing a rather impressive wingspan, and attempted to grab each feather individually with my telekinesis. No such luck.

About ten minutes later I found another quick and easy use of my magic that straightened and even plucked a few stray feathers for me, much to my satisfaction.

I found it odd, they way my magic worked. In a raw form, just letting it flow from my horn uncontrolled, spread it out over a wide area where I could intuitively feel it and even still control it to some degree. But certain things, like charging a plant, lifting an object, summoning my shield, I wasn't giving the magic shape like I first thought I was. I couldn't quite tell what was happening but I did have a feeling. It felt like on some level the magic was being woven into some sort of pre-made mold. And each time I called up on my shield I wasn't making a new one, instead I was simply projecting magic through that mold.

Oh, what the heck, if I'm already calling my energy magic might as well call these molds what they were. Spells.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of men shouting not that far from where I was. I rose on all four hoof and faced that direction, my wings flaring outward instinctively.

 _Fly in and show them your grace, let them know who you are._

I decided that stealth would be the best way to approach this situation. No sense to alerting them to my presence before they needed to know. However, I did pick up a good number of rocks from the gravel across the one roof nearby. I idly noted I could pick up a few more than usual, about forty.

Doing my best to not make a sound, I flew across the way and landed as gently as I could manage on top of the nearby building. My rocks came a moment later, staying slightly behind me. I let them fall on the roof so the glow of my horn didn't give away my position. Then I slowly moved to the edge of the roof and peeked into the alley below.

There were seven gang members with colours I didn't recognize, purple and black. Two of them were on the ground, one with a crossbow bolt in his leg and the other with one in his shoulder. Between the other five, three were standing watch, each holding a sawed off shotgun, while two attempted to drag their injured gang members to safety. What they were watching for seemed to not be there anymore.

That was, until I suddenly saw a misty apparition that looked like someone dressed in all black dive out of a wall and fire a crossbow at one of them before tucking into a roll and leaping through another wall.

I wasn't sure if I should get involved just yet. The way the apparition was dressed they could have very well been a villain, and even if they were a hero seeing a cartoon horse spring into action like that would distract them and only make things worse. However, I was reminded just last night when Armsmaster offhandedly mentioned a vigilante that liked using crossbows.

There were too many things going on, better to wait and watch.

One of the gang members cried out with a rather feminine scream and dropped to the ground, the shaft of an arrow protruding from their gut.

"Breaker!" One of the still standing gang members shouted. "Plan Ghost!" On cue, the other gang members pulled out gas masks while simultaneously dropping smoke bombs. Within a few seconds, the smoke had become so thick that I had lost sight of the gang members. The gas was heavy enough that it hung in a thick cloud in the alley, not rising higher than a single story.

I was about to see what I could do to clear the smoke when it suddenly caught fire. Rapidly, the flame spread to all of the gas and burned it away in a few seconds, leaving scorched walls and blackened concrete in its wake.

Well, that was interesting.

The gang members were gone, save for the one with his leg shot through. He had been pulled to the other end of the alley and currently have a crossbow held to his head.

I felt a little conflicted for a moment. Just last night I had done more than threaten someone with deadly force, I had out right used it on two people. Sure, both lived and I was sort of acquaintances with one now, but I had done exactly what this shadowy figure had been doing only I carried through.

On the other hoof, those were villains. Hookwolf had killed people before and was almost more than likely bound for the Birdcage. Rune might not have killed anyone, but she had done her fair share of gang work for the Empire. This was a normal man from a gang that as far as I was aware, hasn't done anything major just yet.

But I think what got me the most was that I did all of that in defense of others and of myself. These people were in small number, only had human abilities, and weren't of any threat to this shadow figure. And if what Armsmaster said was true, the cape would gladly put another bolt through this guy. I wasn't going to let that happen.

Grabbing all of my rocks, I jumped off the roof with a flourish of my wings and glided swiftly towards her. I would have said something to announce my presence, but I was too busy focusing on making sure I landed correctly. Instead, I had all of my rocks orbiting me like planets orbit the sun. Some I had going around me from left to right, some going the other way. I had some going up at an angle and coming back down, and so on. The light from my horn and rocks caught the apparitions attention.

"What the fuck!" A decidedly female voice exclaimed. I noticed she wasn't in a shadow form anymore, but that was all I had time to notice as she lifted up her crossbow and fired at me.

Almost instantly I dropped two rocks and grabbed the arrow out of the air. Compared to a bullet, it was pretty easy. And while I didn't think I could catch a bullet, an arrow was much larger and much slower.

I had brought it to a halt just a few inches from my face. Not so close it would be uncomfortable, but close enough that I would be able to examine it with the light of my horn. And because of that, I was able to make out the triangular hunting tip of the arrow.

I turned the arrow around and calmly floated it back to its owner.

"You dropped this," I said.

"What the fuck are you?" The cape asked as she pointed her second crossbow at me. I doubted it would do much more than the first one.

"My name is Nova," I told her. "A hero. Who are you?"

"None of your fucking business." She spat. "Now, why the hell are you some stupid ass pony?" I tilted my head to look at her curiously. I could say I really didn't have a choice in the matter, that my power required me to be one. But I didn't see why I should have to, particularly given that my appearance seemed to annoy her.

So with a little bit of smugness in my voice, I said, "Because it was cute."

I got the distinct impression her face twitched under the mask.

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."

I shrugged it off. "I don't know, you've made some pretty dumb choices."

"What the hell do you know?" She growled at me. I glanced down at the gang member who was trying to crawl away quietly without getting noticed.

"I know you've hurt a lot of gang members," I told her. "And now the Protectorate is coming for you. And if you keep hurting these people, they will catch you."

"Fuck them!" She spat. "They don't get anything done anyway. Not the way they play nice. You see these guys?" She pointed her crossbow at the injured gang member for a moment causing him to freeze. "Don't you think it is strange how quickly they popped up? How they made their move before even the ABB had? It was almost like they waiting for this, and I want to know why."

"And if you kill someone on accident while you 'interrogate them'?"

"Then screw 'em! No one gives a shit about these low lives."

"The Protectorate will." I countered. "And then they'll bring you in."

She was about to answer with something when she looked up and paused. I followed her gaze and saw the unmistakable white costume of Glory Girl. As she descended, I saw Clockblocker hanging on her back.

I smiled up at them and turned back to the shadow cape, but she was already gone.


	10. Chapter 10

The moment she was gone I dropped all of the rocks and let my magic run free to find her. After about five seconds of letting my magic explore every corner of the street, I realized I wasn't she wasn't up here. Instead, she was under the street in the tunnels where flood waters would be routed through. I could feel an entrance point in range and I doubted Glory Girl would be able to go after her before she was too far gone. With a sigh, I shook my head and looked at Glory Girl who had just landed with Clockblocker sliding promptly sliding off her back.

"Who was that?" Glory Girl asked.

"Trouble," I answered, perhaps a bit more melodramatic than I intended. I shook my head. "But she's gone now."

"A shame," Clockblocker said. I turned to look at him and found him bent over the gang member the mystery girl had shot. He had backed up against the wall and was trying to put pressure on his wound while we talked around him. Rather odd for a gang member. Most were a touch on the arrogant side and would be screaming about their rights or just obscenities.

"Piggot might have gotten off my case for that whole fiasco with Assault if we stopped Crossbow." Clockblocker continued. "Either way I'm going to have to call this in, followed by a lot of paperwork. Fun." He added the last part sarcastically and wiped out a phone.

"Speaking of which," I said hastily before he could start dialling. "What has happened to Assault?"

Clockblocker paused and I got the impression he grinned behind his mask. Actually, even with how little I've met face to face with him, I know he was grinning.

"Oh, Assault? Piggot was inventing new forms of punishment. Literally, she was contacting other PRT directors to see if she could get clearance to invent new forms of punishment. We actually had to get Battery, Armsmaster, Aegis, and Miss Militia to talk her out of writing to Director Costa-Brown to legally redefine the word 'punishment' in the PRT. It would have been pretty funny if Assault didn't dig in his heels more."

"How do you escalate after that?" Glory Girl asked curiously. Clockblocker shook his head.

"I don't know, but he would have and it wouldn't have been pretty. But thankfully Battery talked him into making an apology and Miss Militia talked Piggot into not flaying him alive and giving Glenn Chambers complete creative freedom over his costume and branding." Clockblocker shuddered.

"Glenn Chambers?" I asked.

"You don't want to know," Clockblocker answered.

"Hey guys?" the gang member suddenly said. "I'm psyched you all are having a good time catching up and all, but you think you could make that call now? I really would like to have this arrow removed."

"Oh yeah," Clockblocker said, looking at the forgotten phone in his hand. "I'll just go do that."

"You're awfully compliant for a gang member." Glory Girl said. The guy shrugged her off.

"I ain't done nothing wrong," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, I'm going in for questioning and then I'm filing a lawsuit against whoever that cape was. Besides, Boss says we got to play nice with the heroes if we get caught."

"How considerate," I said dryly. "Why don't you tell us about them why we wait."

The gang member let out another shrug and looked away before answering.

"Not much to say. They offer protection from the other gangs and don't ask much in return, which is nice given the other two choices. They offer good pay for some labour, another plus in this city. Past that we don't do much."

"What about your name," I pressed. "The Workers are white and gold, so what about your black and purple?"

"Oh," he said, a little surprised. "We're The Doctors. We work this area."

I took a mental note of that. There was only one area I had marked off that was close enough here for The Doctors to take for themselves.

"What were you guys doing here?" Glory Girl asked. She was floating casually and looking down on the lot of us as she spoke, giving her winning smile as she did so.

"Just patrolling the area," the ganger answered indifferently. "Believe it or not we were actually supposed to take this area because we were supposed to take this area to see if we could draw the crossbow vigilante out and get some information on her. I guess we got that."

"Speaking of which," I interrupted. "What was it that your friends used to get away? They shouted Plan Ghost and dropped a bunch of gas. Some sort of Tinker tech?"

He shook his head. "Just normal gas, depending on what you call normal. We got tons of it. Plan Ghost is a default plan for any cape that physical attacks go through or just don't affect. The idea being that the Kindle Gas would either get into their lungs or, in the case of Fog and our crossbow thug, get in their body as a whole. Then they set a small spark that takes them out."

"You're awful talkative," Glory Girl observed.

"Like I said," he stated. "We were told to play nice. That and I'd rather not annoy Collateral Damage Girl."

"If only half of the other gang members were as compliant as you," Glory Girl sighed. At that moment, Clockblocker came back.

"Alright, they want me to stay with him while they send local police comes to pick him up." He told us. "You guys want to head on out and keep patrolling?"

"Patrol without you?" Glory Girl asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Heh, never. Just come back and get me in fifteen minutes. Besides, I know you just love me hanging on your neck."

Glory Girl rolled her eyes and start rising in the air. She looked down at me and smiled.

"You need a lift?" She teased. I smirked in response.

"Hardly," I answered, flaring my wings outward. I jumped a little to get going and gave my wings a few flaps. I took a chance and attempted to hover in place. That was thankfully easier than landing.

Glory Girl looked stunned for a moment then grinned. "Race you to the Medhall building!" She disappeared before I could protest. Wishing I could swear, I turned in the air and flew after her.

The rest of the night was filled with more action than we thought there would be. The Doctors were clashing with gang members back and forth all over the place, and they were showing the Kindle Gas wasn't the only tool in their belt. They left a lot of strange marks everywhere they went, most of the time it was oddly patterned scorch marks. But on occasion they found some containment foam. Besides the occasional attack from Crossbow, the nickname Clockblocker gave her, there weren't any parahuman fights. But we had shown up enough times that people had noticed my presence, the first step making people now who Nova was. Tomorrow I would go out on my own and do more than just patrol, I'll hit the gang warehouses.

Going after them like that would paint a target on my back, but I was kind of surprised there wasn't one already. Armsmaster wasn't discreet in saying that I was the one that took Hookwolf and Rune down, I had more than expected some E88 have come after me once word got around that I had been out tonight. I was more surprised they hadn't. In fact, there hadn't been any E88 parahumans out at all. Odd.

After we dropped off Clockblocker at the PRT building, I ended up racing Glory Girl to her home. Not sure how she keeps talking me into races, but after near two hours of patrols, I was getting pretty good at the flying. I was even getting decent at the landing. Turned out it was easier to land by dropping straight down and taking the impact on all four hooves.

Glory Girl suddenly came to a stop in mid air and I had to flare my wings outward to jerk to a stop. The speed I was travelling at caused the wind to jerk on my wings violently, but my wings were stronger than they looked.

"Something wrong?" I asked as soon as I managed to draw myself to a stop.

"Just remembered I have to pick up Amy from the hospital."

"Oh," I said. I had almost forgotten Panacea and Glory Girl were related. "Isn't it rather late to be working?"

Glory Girl shook her head. "She actually works later than this, normally. I was actually a little surprised that she was stopping so soon tonight even though she slept in this morning."

I smiled. It felt good to know she was actually following through on things. And considering there was a distinct lack of rock through legs, I was too. This was a little easier than I might have made her believe.

"I'd come with you, but it's getting late," I told her glumly. It was just past midnight and I was getting progressively more nervous with the idea of Lisa and Dad being alone in the house. And if either were staying up to wait for me, I wouldn't want them to stay up much longer.

"Alright, I'll see you some other time then?" She asked with a slight smile.

"Sure," I answer as I turned in midair to face my house.

"'Kay then, see ya." I heard flying off in the other direction and started flapping my wings forward.

I sneaked back into my yard much the same way I had the other night, letting out a sigh of relief to find that the mischief house with rather active occupants was still and quiet tonight. Confident that nobody was around or awake to watch at this hour, a slid into my backyard and grabbed the few dozen plants Lisa had left out by the back porch.

I brought them over to the area where the grass had been growing wildly for the past year. Neither Dad nor I had ever bothered to come out and try to do any upkeep of the area, causing it to become weed choked and the grass to grow almost a foot tall.

Setting the plants down, I grabbed as much dirt as I possibly could and pulled it up. The dirt as far as I could tell was about twice to three times the weight of me as had to be upward of two hundred pounds. I felt it sucking the magic out of my like it had poked a hole in a container. I flipped the mass over so the dark, untouched soil was facing upwards and the tall grass was hanging upside down. I quickly dropped it back into the hole I made before my magic ran out.

Using my telekinesis, I dug out a spot for each plant simultaneously before lifting them all up and placing them in the holes. That would make it easier to have a constant source of plants coming in.

With that quick chore done, I made my way into the house. I found Lisa passed out on the couch, a blanket strewed across the floor like she had thrown it off in her sleep. Gently, I picked it up with my magic and place it on top of her. I didn't see my father anywhere, so I assumed he had gone to bed. I briefly wondered how long Lisa had to spend talking to my father to get him to go to bed without staying up and worrying about me. In fact, I wonder how long they had just talked to each other about her staying here. I had no doubts Lisa had convinced him relatively quickly, considering how fast she had me bringing her to my house and letting her use my shower.

Strange girl.

With a sigh, I made my way to my room. I had a busy day, needless to say. Between the plants and the patrol, I had done more than enough to make tired enough to almost fall asleep the moment I hit the pillow. I nearly forgot about becoming human for the morning.

Coil sat at his desk, a live camera feed streaming to his computer. He was looking at an old house, one that clearly hadn't been all that high quality when it was bought. But it was the house the girl had disappeared into.

Coil took a breath and then he split the world.

In one reality, he sat there and did nothing. His men waited for him to give any order, but he didn't. Not yet anyway. He waited.

In the other world, he spoke in his radio and said, "Move in, capture the girl. Spare the others."

On the screen, a second camera feed appeared. The first feed came from the man driving the van, the second came from the officer leading the home invasion.

Calmly, Coil watched as the officer pushed into the house and started searching. They were all dressed in FBI uniforms as their cover and they were hardly silent. When they found themselves inside the living room she had bolted up from the couch as was running for the door. One of the other men moved forward and grabbed her, moving fluidly to strike her in the temple. She crumpled to the ground.

The back door swung open and Nova stood there in shock. One of the men raised their gun to fire, but as he pulled the trigger a bubble of silvery purple light surrounded Nova. A second later, the camera feed cut out.

Coil turned to the other camera feed and watched as the roof ripped off the house and very different Nova rose out of it. She was larger, hair mane twice in size and glittered. The remains of her house swirled around her, wrapped in the energy that surrounded Nova. The horse noticed the van and the pieces of the house moved forward and then the feed from the van cut out.

Coil erased that reality and split the world again. This time, in the first world he told his men to withdraw and come back to base. In the second world, he told his men to wait twenty minutes then do a stealth infiltration using the prepared sedative to take her out quietly.

Once again, two camera feeds came up. This time as his man moved into the house they crept up to Lisa where she slept on the couch. The officer watched one of his men reach forward with the sedative when Lisa's eyes flew open and she let out a scream. The man grabbed her and jabbed the syringe in her neck, his hand clamping over her mouth. But it was too late. Coil caught a glimpse of Nova on the camera. Her eyes had turned a solid silver and her horn was glowing brightly. Then the feed cut out.

Coil destroyed that world with a sigh. It wasn't the first time he had attempted to get to her. But each time Nova appeared to notice almost instantly. It appeared there was some sort of connection between the two, something that allowed Nova to feel it when Lisa was in trouble or injured.

It irked him that Lisa eluded him because of a single cape. But that was alright because he knew where Nova lived. He knew her identity. There would be more chances in the future. For now, he would turn attention elsewhere.

He opened up another tab on his computer and pulled up the reports from the men he had inside The Workers, The Doctors, and the Pedites, and Industry. After a few minutes of reading his knuckles began to turn white as his grip tightened on the arms rests of his chair.

There was nothing. Nothing on them at all.

A/N: So, I'm think of making the next chapter a PHO interlude but I'm kind of on the fence with it. PHO interludes tend to work better once the main character had done something particularly flashy. But between the things with Assault and her recent appearances with Glory Girl and Clockblocker and the fact that she is an adorable cartoon horse, there would certainly be enough chatter to be reasonably interesting. Eh, we'll see.


	11. Chapter 11: PHO interlude

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 **Topic: Apology My Boss Didn't Force Me To Write.**

 **In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)►Personal**

 **Assault (Original Poster) (Confirmed Cape)**

Just want to apologize to Nova for the insensitive photo and live stream I took of her first night out (Found here and here, respectively). But besides that, Nova's pretty sweet right? Took out Hookwolf and Rune first night out.

 **(Showing Page 9 of 23)**

 **► The Chronicler (Veteran Member)**

Just one question… WHAT THE EVER LOVING HELL? She's a goddamn horse! At first I thought this was some sort of joke but she been up everywhere in recent days. Is she some sort of Case 53?

 **►Kvothe24**

The Chronicler, I think we have to assume she is. There is no way she could be a horse like that not be some sort of 53.

 **►Aria^2**

Okay, she is a horse. The last eight pages have been freaking out about that. So how about we freak out about her powers? I mean seriously, she can fly, she can make a shield, she has telekinesis that can pick people up! Just check out this video from a a time when she broke up a gang fight between ABB and Industry. Link

 **►SamIAmNot**

Aria^2, Holy Hell! She didn't just pick up a guy, she freakin threw three of them!

P.S. Anyone else notice she and Glory Girl hang out a lot?

 **►The Chronicler (Veteran Member)**

SamIAmNot, Yeah, you're right. People have see them on patrol together six times the last two weeks. Then there is this video of them hitting a Merchant drug house, and this video of them getting in a fight with Oni Lee, and this video of them demolishing a drug warehouse. Literally.

I honestly didn't think there could be a hero better at destroying things than Glory Girl.

 **►GstringGirl**

I wonder if we should give them a name like 'The Glory Duo' or 'The Justice Pair'.

 **►Chrome**

GstringGirl, Those names are cringy as hell, but to be fair most pair names are. Anything beats 'Glory Horse' I suppose.

 **►Eolian57**

Well, if no one is going to say it then the duty falls to me; I ship it.

 **►ArchmageEin (Guy in the know)**

Goddamn it Eolian! We almost made it ten pages without shipping two capes together. This is why we can't have nice things!

 **►Eolian57**

I regret nothing.

 **(Page 10 of 23)**

 **►GstringGirl**

Can you even ship them? I mean, one is a horse.

 **►Kivlin2**

GstringGirl, It's the internet, anything is possible.

 **►S_Nova**

GstringGirl, It's Alicorn actually. And I'd rather you didn't

 **►Kvothe24**

S_Nova, Wait? How are you here? You don't have FINGERS!

 **►Assault (Confirmed Cape)**

She has magic fingers.

 **►Chrome**

Godammit Assault

 **►Eolian57**

Assault you glorious bastard.

 **►Glory_Girl (Confirmed Cape)**

Sadly, from what I've seen, he isn't that wrong.

► **S_Nova**

Glory Girl why?

 **►Eolian57**

Trouble in paradise *wink* *wink*

 **(Page 21 of 23)**

 **►The Chronicler (Veteran Member)**

Getting back on track, has anyone else seen "The Glory Gals" (still think that is a stupid name) anywhere?

 **► Xx_Void_Cowboy_xX**

Nothing new, but has anyone notice that Nova seems smaller here than she does in this video? Is she growing bigger?

 **►Chrome**

Ah, Void_Cowboy. It's been awhile since I've seen you bringing power speculation to a thread that isn't the power spec thread. We hardly see you anymore, something going on?

 **►Xx_Void_Cowboy_xX**

Not much, I've just been Working.

And what do you mean nothing to do with it? This thread was about Assault's apology and has devolved into random talk about Nova. And what about your question about what I've been doing? What place does that have on here?

 **►Tin_Mother (Moderator)**

Xx_Void_Cowboy_xX, It is still power speculation and should be kept to the appropriate thread, thank you.

 **►Kivlin2**

But you know, I think Cowboy is right. Nova looks like she is a foot taller between photos.

 **►Chrome**

Kivlin2, I thought we just said that should go to the power spec thread.

 **►Kivlin2**

I'm not speculating it to be part of her power, I'm just saying that she does in fact seem bigger. Maybe she actually growing older?

 **►Bosdrid (Veteran Member)**

Kivlin2, In just two weeks? If she is actually growing older she'll be dead in a year at that rate.

 **►Chrome**

Bosdrid, Yeah, but the physiology of case 53s like that don't follow any rules we know of.

 **Topic: The Workers, Doctors, Industry, and Pedites?**

 **In: Boards ► Places ► America ► Brockton Bay Discussion (Public Board)► Gang activity**

 **Answer Key (Original Poster) (Girl in the know)**

So anyone catch what's going on with these new gangs? They just popped up out of nowhere, which granted isn't that strange in this city, but they seem more organized than even the normal gangs. What gives?

 **(Page 1 of 3)**

 **►Aku-42**

I'm not sure but they seem to be on top of things. I saw them fighting with E88 this morning and they absolutely destroyed them.

 **►bothad**

You got proof of that Aku-42

 **►Aku-42**

bothad, go outside in Brockton Bay. There have been gang fights everywhere since Hookwolf went down. All you have to do is go near Doctor territory and you'll more than likely hear something.

 **►Char**

You know, small gangs like these guys pop up all the time but normal disappear by now. Why are they sticking around?

 **► Loki_Lo**

Char, because the Empire has its hands full dealing with the ABB pushing into their territory. Once things calm down between them or the four become too much of a nuisance the two big gangs will crack down on them.

 **►Char**

Loki_Lo, I might believe that if the Empire had been actually fighting the ABB. Look, here shows that Lung, Oni Lee, and some sort of Tinker have show up eight times in the last to weeks to take territory. But this shows that Empire capes have only showed up once. What is the Empire doing? They're getting their butts kick and aren't even fighting back.

(Don't get me wrong, I don't like the Empire but I'd rather not have the city controlled by equally racist Asians.)

 **►Ekul**

Char has a point, the Empire has been noticeably absent and not just in regards to the ABB. The Pedites have gotten very aggressive. Last week my sister's block was controlled by E88, but yesterday the Pedites show up at their door asking for protection money. Granted it was about a thrid of what the Empire was asking, but still.

 **►Loki_Lo**

Ekul, I won't pretend to be an expert in gang tactics, but if I had to guess the Empire thinks it can't go toe to toe with Lung without Hookwolf so they're waiting for the ABB to over extend themselves into their territory before striking back. Then the ABB will be spread too thin to stop them.

 **►Ekul**

Loki_Lo, Really? They have Menja and Fenja, not to mention Kaiser. Between Purity all the other capes they have they could easily take the ABB.

 **►Loki_Lo**

All the more reason to let them tired themselves out fighting the normal humans in the gang.

 **(Page 2 of 3)**

 **►Snake_eyes**

But what are they even on about? I haven't even seen them recruiting anywhere, has anyone else.

 **►Ekul**

Snake_Eye, I didn't realize until you pointed it out, but your right. My sister is near the Pedites and I know someone else by The Workers and neither seem to be actually recruiting anyone. Strange.

 **►Chrome**

But we know they've got to be recruiting somehow. They do have members after all, and a lot of them. In fact, now that I think about it, how did know one notice them before? That is a lot of people in those gangs and no one seemed to notice them.

 **►TotallyNormalGuy**

This is incredibly weird, but if anyone knows how to join up let me know. I might be a touch unhappy with my arrangements right now.

 **►AllSeer (Veteran Member)**

Hmm, TotallyNormalGuy just made my realize something. Aren't these gangs a total win for Brockton Bay? Like before if you were white you were forced into the Empire and if you were Asain you were forced into the ABB, and that happen no matter what you believed. These gangs are taking in people all over the place, shouldn't more people be flocking to them if for no other reason to to get away from the other two gangs?

 **►Chrome**

They might, if they knew where to sign up at. Honestly if they started having open sign ups they might soon out number the other two gangs in normal people, and wouldn't that annoy them?

 **►Snake_eyes**

Chrome, I think you're forgetting that human power doesn't mean much in the face of parahumans. And we have seen any of The Four's parahumans.

 **►Chrome**

We haven't seen them, but we know they're there. Plebeian, Proletarian, Civis, and Sapien. And oddly enough, aren't Plebeian and Proletarian basically the same thing?

(Also, The Four? As that what we're calling them?)

 **►Allseer (Veteran Member)**

Maybe they're Thinkers or Tinkers? In this video they seem to use some sort of flammable gas. And here The Workers seem to use metal nets.

 **►Chrome**

I doubt any of those were Tinker made, flammable gas is hardly a new invention and making nets has been around forever. What I find more interesting was how they used those to take capes. Did you see Oni Lee catch on fire here? He keep cloning himself and the fire followed him. Fucking hilarious.

Also, where are they getting all that stuff? They don't seem to be collecting nearly as much money as the other gangs.

(Page 3 of 3)

 **►Answer Key (Original Poster) (Girl in the know)**

I don't know about that, but do you guys think they are working together? I know their territories are far apart from each other, but I have found a single source showing them fighting with each other.

 **►Chrome**

I don't think they were at first, if they had been working together they could have taken much more territory working together. But they might be now, it makes too much sense that a bunch of the lesser gangs would band together to help each other against the much larger gangs.

 **►Snake_eyes**

Chrome, I don't know. The overlap in some of their names are rather strange.

 **►Chrome**

The over laps on appears with a few of them, not all. Probably just a coincidence.

So I'm sorry if this wasn't the quality for PHO interludes your used to, the PHO interlude generator doesn't work on my tiny little chromebook and my main laptop is still getting fixed. If it is a real problem for some people I'll replace it as soon as my main laptop is getting fixed.


	12. Chapter 12

"I'm kind of concerned that the Empire hasn't done more," Amy said before taking a bite of the basket of fish N chips she had gotten.

We were at the restaurant we had agreed to meet at near two weeks ago. Since then Nova had made a variety of appearances. I had been focusing on breaking down the gang warehouses. Glory Girl had helped me on occasion, in a somewhat amusing turn of events getting us known as the 'Glorious Guild'. Out of the other ideas that had been kicked around, it was probably for the best.

I took a bite of my sandwich and nodded my head in agreement with her. The Empire had hardly done anything recently, and it was more concerning that they haven't.

"Yeah," I said, "Makes me feel like they're planning something." Amy nodded in agreement.

"Definitely, but I'm a little glad. The hospitals have been flooding with people getting injured in gang fights."

"That reminds me," I said, reaching into the satchel I carried with me. The satchel was a great piece of work, it was a rich purple with my mark displayed on the side. Thanks to a few appearances from Lisa and myself, people dying their hair and decorating their faces and possessions with the mark had become popular enough that I didn't even feel the need to cover the mark on my cheek. But the real beauty of the satchel was its ability to become saddle bag if I needed them. Right now it just looked like a really weird purse, but I just needed to peel a small velcro strap to let drape off my back in horse form.

"I want to go to the hospital a test this out." I reached into my bag and pulled out a bottle containing a rich pink liquid and slid it over to her. Right now, the boardwalk was incredibly busy. Far too busy to stop and consider two girls sharing a lunch and passing around a strange drink. I doubted anyone was paying any attention and even if they did, there wasn't anything they could do with it. Probably.

"What is it?" Amy asked curiously, taking it in her hand and looking at it. She wasn't nearly as bitter as when I had run into her the first two times. I had met her a few times after that, when going out patrols with Glory Girl, and she had been in a much better mood in those moments. Never nearly as snappy as she had been the first few times.

It seemed to confirm what I had first thought, she wanted to get rest and get away from the hospital. She just didn't have a justification and leapt on the one I gave her, regardless of how weak it seemed. I was glad.

"A healing potion," I answered with a smug smile. I watched her eyes go wide and her grip on the bottle up until I thought she was going to break it.

"You can make healing potions?" She asked like she couldn't quite believe it.

"Yep."

"Then we got to go test it now," she said loudly, rising from her seat fast.

"But Am-"

"Nope, we're going to the hospital and testing this right now."

"But neither of us can drive. Or have a car."

"Then we'll get a cab."

"But can't we-"

"Nope." She grabbed my wrist and pulled me from my seat. I was a little too caught off guard by this side of Amy that I didn't resist as much as I could. So we were going to the hospital, I guess.

About five minutes later we had fumbled our way into a cab headed for the hospital. Three minutes of awkward silence into that, my cell phone went off.

Lisa, Victoria, and my dad were the only ones to have gotten my cell phone number since Lisa bought it for me. She said she has been able to shave money away from her secret bank accounts, but anything more than what she was pulling from them and it would bring police and hired mercenaries on her head. So she said anyway.

"Hello," I said, answering my phone swiftly.

"Taylor, hi, I got something you might want to know," Lisa spoke hurriedly.

"Um, alright. What's with the rush?"

"Your father is trying to use the stove and I think he might accidentally burn the house down." She said in a tone that made it hard tell if she was joking or not.

"Sounds serious," I said with a nod. "So, have you figured more out about The Four?"

"Yes and no," Lisa answered. "They are either extremely smart or extremely lucky."

"Hows that?" I asked curiously. It wasn't often Lisa's power didn't lean one way or another.

"Well, for one it seems like they aren't related, even though they clearly are," Lisa said. "Each one behaves completely differently, having different leaders. The Pedites are more aggressive, The Doctor are more controlling, The Workers are more economically inclined, and Industry doesn't seem to do much except defend its territory. Each one has completely different and unrelated tactics and gear. Nobody you've interrogated so far has ties with both groups. And if what we have found is true, it seems they only just started working together to fight the larger gangs. By all accounts, they have nothing to do with each other.

"Except we know they do," Lisa then added with a touch of frustration. "Each gang founded on the same night, which was done exceptionally quick for one gang let alone four, and even they way they are named! The Doctors and The Workers have the most in common. Industry is closer to Pedites, which is Latin for Infantry. And the leader's names too are both really similar. Plebeian and Proletariat? Practically the same thing. Civis and Sapien are could be related, civilization and wisdom? Not too much of a stretch.

"But the four don't fully fit together," Lisa practically growled. "If they were intentionally going for a theme they could have done it better, made it all click like a puzzle. Yet they don't. But it is just so obvious that was exactly what they were going for."

"Your power doesn't tell you?" I asked.

"It says they are connected, somehow," Lisa answered wistfully. "But I already have a headache trying to figure out how. There is a load of evidence saying they only became allies after the fact, but it is just unbelievable they weren't in league with each other from the beginning."

"So in other words, you have got anything."

"Ah, that isn't true. I did find one thing."

"Oh?"

"Yes. No one on PHO claims to be part of any of The Four, which is odd in and of itself, but I found at least four accounts that are actually part of one of the gangs, or maybe one for each account. And guess what they have been doing? Spreading the idea that The Four aren't connected they way we think they are."

"Well," I said with a smile, glad we were finally making some head way on them. "Isn't that suspicious?"

"Very," Lisa agreed. "I-ah shit, I got to stop your dad, just wanted to let you know what I've learned. Bye." She hung up before I had a chance to respond.

"My life is so weird sometimes," I said as I turned my phone screen off and slid it back into my satchel. Amy laughed a little.

"You think?" She teased lightly.

"Don't I know it," I said bitterly. "And that isn't even considering what going back to school is going to be like on Monday."

"Oh yeah, you haven't been to school in a couple of weeks have you?" Amy asked.

I sighed. "No, instead I've been hanging out with your sister on and off the last couple of days." I was mindful of the cab driver when I spoke next. "And yet, no matter how much I ask she won't introduce me to Nova." If I was going to sell the whole 'fan of the mighty Nova', I needed to start getting into the habit of praising my horse form while in human form. I had made it a point of hanging around other girls that had decided to get in on the latest fashion trend of dyeing their hair silvery purple and painting my mark on themselves. I noted with mild amusement they all acted the same way, which was pretty much exactly the way I had expected.

It was the men that got in on the trend that had confused me the most. But I wasn't going to touch that. Not a hand. Not with a pole. Not even with my telekinesis. Just, no.

After a minute of silence after that Amy pulled out the bottle I had given her and looked at it again.

"So how did you make this? And can you make more, presuming it works?" She was holding it low enough that the cab driver couldn't see it and wasn't speaking out right. But I could tell the idea excited her because of how she risked bringing it up despite our setting."

"I, uh, put certain plants together with that special ingredient you showed me the first time we met." It took her a moment to realize what I meant by that, but when she did her eye grew wide again.

"Do you have one of the plants with you?" She asked me with the same urgency she had shown when we had been eating not long ago. Once again, I was thrown a little off guard by it. I had met Amy a few times before and she had always been quiet and reserved. But today she was going into bouts of energy because of these potions. If anything, that confused me more. Shouldn't she be more concerned about these replacing her? I mean, if she didn't enjoy doing what she did why would she work herself into the ground healing people.

It took me a moment to remember the fresh plants I kept in my satchel. I reach in for the hard plastic box I kept an assortment of flowers I had picked this morning while I was out. I left the ones in my garden to grow wildly and charged a good handful each night for Lisa to experiment with. She seemed to enjoy it, though I couldn't tell if it was just because she got to use her power or not.

These ones were only a few hours old and just happened to be something I spotted in an empty lot on my way to take a bus to get lunch with Amy. Obviously, I hadn't charged them yet.

Amy took the box and plucked out a buttercup and seemed to study it with her power. She turned it over in her hands once and then looked at me.

"There's nothing different about it." She stated.

"I hadn't used the stuff on it yet," I answered awkwardly.

"Oh," Amy conceded with a frown. She shook her head and held out a hand to me. "Could I…?" She asked a little nervously. Instead of answering, I put my hand in hers.

She paused for a second, looking confused. Then her eyes went wide like as saucers for the third time in the last hour. She turned her head at the buttercup she was holding. It grew a little more vibrant for a moment then began to change. I wasn't sure exactly what was happening until the change stopped.

Just slightly, ever so slightly, the buttercup was more cartoon like. Not like I was, more like bad CGI, where it just looked a little too shiny to be real.

"What did you do?" I asked quietly. Amy pulled her hand away from mine and stared in a daze at the flower.

"I… might have grown some circuitry inside of the flower."

A/N So this has nothing to do with the story, as far as I've planed, but I had a thought that needs answers! What happens when Flechette shots someone Clockblocker has frozen?


	13. Chapter 13

It was midnight now. The stars were out and a full moon illuminated my backyard where I, Nova, and Panacea along with Cheshire were gathered. Lisa's costume was a skin tight bodysuit in the colour scheme and style of the Cheshire cat, the name she picked for herself. Panacea was in her white robes complete with the red scarf that covered her lower face. And I was… Well, I was me.

Glory Girl wanted to come, by I was already paranoid that someone was going to notice the cartoon horse coming and going from my house. Let alone if they notice Glory Girl visiting. She wasn't the stealthiest of people.

Panacea knelt down and placed a hand on one of the violets that sat at the edge of my impromptu garden. Almost immediately the tall grass all around our yard began to shrink and shrivel.

"How is she doing that?" I whispered to Cheshire. I was under the impression that Panacea needed a direct connection with the things she manipulated.

"Plants are connected by massive underground networks of roots," Cheshire answered. "They must be simple enough organisms that contact with each other allows Panacea to access a large amount of them."

It did see she had a limit, though, judging the way the tall only disappeared in large patches at a time. It took ten minutes to clear the entire yard of the over grown grass and for the first time in years, I could see the bottom of our lawn.

"Which ones make the healing potion?" Panacea asked.

"Daffodils, yellow roses, pink Carnations, and blueberries," Cheshire answer happily. "Though we aren't growing any blueberries."

"Do you have any with you?" Panacea asked, looking back at her. Cheshire reached into a pouch on a large belt that was slightly angled around her hips. She drew out three blueberries and placed them in Panacea's outstretched palm.

Panacea took them silently and placed them near the ground. She turned her head to me and nodded. I walked forward and kneeled down next to her, allowing her to touch my horn.

Over the last two weeks I had grown several inches in all directions. Cheshire made a link to my size and how much I was using my magic. I tended to grow after long nights of taking down gang members when I used my magic for long periods of time. I also grew whenever I overextended myself. It only happened once since that night when I fought Hookwolf and it was completely intentional, an experiment Lisa had cooked up. It wasn't pleasant.

I was still very clearly a filly, but I was taller. My legs and neck were longer. My wings hadn't grown much but my horn had. Now it was long enough I could actually see it when I looked up. And with it, my magic had increased.

I got the feeling I could pick some pretty large things, but I focus on picking up a lot of things. I could pick up over sixty small stones now, and they way I made them orbit around me made me a terrifying sight to any gang member. Oni Lee and Krieg also learned to find them unpleasant.

But despite all that, I felt tired when Panacea touched my horn. She told me she could manipulate the magic circuits inside of my body, that there was too much resistance from them, but she needed the contact to be able to give the plants the magic. Something to do with the way they were structured made it so she could only understand them so long as she was using her power on them.

But I could feel her drawing magic out of me, fueling whatever change she was putting into the plants. All across the yard, flowers were sprouting out of nowhere. Every plant Cheshire had mentioned to Panacea was sprouting all over the yard, far larger and far more vibrant than any of the ones I had planted before. Several bushes sprouted up along the fence and immediately began to produce blueberries.

The entire effect lasted for almost two minutes and had been progressively slowing since it began. The moment Panacea took her hand from my horn I swayed on my feet. Just how much magic she took hit me all once, leaving me dizzy. Cheshire held out a hand and steadied me, probably stopping me from falling over before I got used to the feeling.

"So, these all have the magic circuits?" Cheshire asked. Panacea nodded seriously.

"They do. But…" She trailed off.

"Something is wrong with the plants." Cheshire decided. "You had to replace something? No, something went wrong anyway."

"Their internal clocks," Panacea interrupted before she could come to her conclusion. "The part of the plant that lets it go into resting phases to survive the winter were altered by the… magic, I guess. The other plants would only live a year and drop seeds that would survive the winter, but their clocks are broken and won't be able to tell the season is changing. These plants won't survive the winter unless they're taken care of." Panacea paused and consider it for a moment. "But that also means they will produce flowers and berries all year long."

"But the question becomes, will they make potions?" Cheshire questioned, turning her gaze toward me. Right, her power got fuzzy when dealing with magic stuff like this. With that in mind, I closed my eyes and focused magic through my horn and let it spread out over the yard. As the magic moved over the plants I didn't feel the same pull I had felt in them before. The need to charge them with emotion wasn't there anymore. I could feel magic radiating from them, but it wasn't coming from me anymore. I wasn't sure how I knew that, but I did. Where ever their magic was coming from, it was part of them now.

"I think so," I said. I wasn't sure, they had magic but they didn't have the same emotional charge I gave them. But just as easily, I could imagine that the emotion was just a catalyst for allowing me to pass magic to them. Panacea could have just removed that step, which would explain why I felt a little tired from the process.

"Well," Cheshire said with a cheerful clap of her hands. "Only one way to find out for sure." She walked over and plucked a handful of blueberries and two carnations. She popped a blueberry in her mouth and gave a satisfied look.

"I think this might just work," she said with a nod. I smiled, but then I remembered something.

"What time is it," I asked, turning to face Cheshire.

"Twelve twenty-seven," Cheshire answered without looking at a clock. She paused for a moment. "You're going to see Rune?"

"Well, we sort of promised," I said slowly. Cheshire shrugged.

"Fine, Panacea and I will make the world changing potion by ourselves while you make friends with the Nazi."

"Sounds good," I said with a nod, choosing to ignore the jab at me. I spread out my wings and took off with impressive speed. I had gotten pretty good at flying now, enough to leave a trail of silver and purple behind me when I was really trying. Cartoon physics.

"So," I heard Cheshire saying to Panacea as I flew away. "What kind of girls are you into?"

Wait, what?

I landed several dozen feet away from the PRT building. Miss Militia was waiting outside for me like she said she would when I had phoned ahead several days ago. Her eye crinkled on the other side of her scarf as she gave a wide expressive smile I couldn't see.

"Nova, I'm glad you came," she greeted me.

"It's nice to see you too," I responded. "I'm ready to see Rune."

"Right this way then." Miss Militia turned and took me through the front doors of the PRT building. This way had a lot more obvious security than they way through the garage I had seen. Foam sprayers lined the ceiling and there were a few Tinker scanners cleverly hidden in floor and ceiling. Only noticeable if you're looking for them.

She took me through a few screening rooms and past some employees that stopped and stared at me. It seemed that even after two weeks of making appearances I was still a shock to see to some people.

"So, how are things going with Rune's Wards application?" I asked as we passed through the third scanning room. Miss Militia made a face behind her scarf I was unable to understand from just seeing her eyes.

"It's… slow." She answered. "Our PR department is working on a way to rebrand her without the public knowing. With her permission, we've been working on changing her look completely. But her power is rather specific, and people will ask questions. The head of the PR department even made a trip here to-"

"Miss Nova!" A really fat man said as he stumbled his way towards up with an extremely large grin plastered on his face. His clothing spoke of a horrible fashion sense and the way he had his hair combed backward looked really off when compared to the rest of his appearance.

"Ah," Miss Militia said with a tone I couldn't quite place. "This would be the head of Image, Glenn Chambers."

"Pleased to met you," Glenn said excitedly without giving me a chance to speak. "I would just like to say that the people absolutely adore you, and should you ever join the Protectorate in any capacity I guarantee I can make you symbol across the nation!"

"I, uh, I- I don't," I stammered. My ears drooped as I thought about what to say in response to that. I failed to come with anything and continued to blather like an idiot.

"Oh, silly of me, where are my manners." Glenn said, rolling his eyes. "You don't think you can be an icon. No one does. But you already are one, whether you like it or not."

"I, wait, what? I'm what?"

"An icon," Glenn said simply. "The world at large took one look at you and thrust you into the position. 'A symbol of light and purity in Brockton Bay' to quote the title of an ever popular thread in PHO."

"But I've only hit a few gang warehouses!" I protested. Hardly anything to be 'A symbol of light and purity'.

"Doesn't matter," Glenn insisted. "You are the most adorable, most marketable, capes the world has seen. Unlicensed merchandise of you is already outpacing Alexandria in sales in the city. Little girls fall in love with the moment they saw you and others love the absolute absurdity of what you are. Since Assault unveiled you to everyone who follows his account, you've grown into an overnight success in just this short time.

"But that is just here," Glenn said excitedly, clapping his hands together. "If you let me start marketing licensed merchandise you could be making thousands by the end of the month. Millions if you join the Ward and let me put you on the world stage."

"This is ridiculous!" I shouted, stamping a hoof down.

"No, you are ridiculous," Glenn correct. "The internet just followed suit. Right now you're a fad, only growing in popularity. Together, we could feed that fire and turn you into an international sensation. Thousands, if not millions, if not billions."

"I think that is enough for now Glenn," Miss Militia said, putting herself between me and him for which I was glad. "Give her time to think about it."

"Yes, yes," Glenn said with a wave of his hand. "Well, Nova. If you change your mind, it shouldn't be that hard to contact me. I'll be watching."

Glenn turned on his heel and began walking off. The moment he was out of earshot I whipped my head around at Miss Militia.

"What the heck was that?" I demanded. Miss Militia sighed.

"That was our head of PR and Marketing. And don't worry, we have all felt the same way towards him at one time or another."

"Really," I asked dryly. Miss Militia and I started back into motion towards a smaller, normal elevator far from the main elevator I had used before.

"Really." Miss Militia confirmed. "You might not remember it, but Vista had a miniature version of exactly what is happening to you when she first joined. Glenn was all over her, though was not nearly as eager as he was with you."

I let out a heavy sigh as the doors of the elevator opened and Miss Militia let me enter first. "It's time like this I wish I could swear," I stated.

"You can't?" Miss Militia asked curiously.

"Nope, my power stops me." Miss Militia laughed a little.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that."

"Why's that?"I asked. It seemed like an odd thing to say.

"Because if I had heard it, I would have to put it in the ever growing file on you. Then Glenn would know. And once he know's you are incapable of swearing…" She trailed off and let the idea sink in. I swallowed.

"So…" I began, trying to think of a way to change the subject. "Why are we taking this elevator, and why is it just a normal elevator?"

"This elevator only leads to the holding cells for unpowered people, which Rune was moved to after our Thinkers determined her want to be a hero was honest. Until we can get her on the streets, she'll stay here." The elevator stopped descending as she spoke. Once again she allowed me to go first.

She led me down several rows of cells before stopping in front of one. Inside, Rune was propped up against a wall with some pillows and had a very old copy of A Brave New World she was reading. She was in black and white sweatpants and a shirt, with only her mask remaining on. I noticed a few domino masks lying underneath the bed.

"Rune," I said, grabbing her attention. She looked up from her book and saw me. A smile spread across her face.

"Nova," she said, snapping the book shut. I looked at Miss Militia who nodded to me.

"I'll be back in half an hour," she stated. "I don't expect trouble, but PRT officers are watching if you need help." She offered another nod and then turned on her heels. Once she had disappeared into the elevator I turned back to Rune and sat down on my haunches.

"So I got to ask," I started. "I shot you through the chest, got you arrested, and you didn't really seem to care. And you are by far, the most patient white supremacist I've met. And I've met a lot over the last couple weeks. So, why?"

Rune chuckled a little, but didn't answer. She stood up and grabbed the edge of her bed and dragged it over, the legs releasing a horrible scratching noise as they dragged across the floor. She placed it directly in front of me on the other side and sat down.

"Yeah, I've been good. I get treated well enough here thanks for asking." Rune said smartly. I rolled my eyes at her, causing her to chuckle again.

"Well, let's check them off," Rune said holding up three fingers. "You shot a rock through my chest. I've had worse. From Hookwolf, let alone other villains. Once an independent hero set my back on fire. Had third-degree burns and spent two weeks convincing Othala to give a healing ability. So yeah, you don't even make the top ten. Plus, Hookwolf and all those guys were going to kill a fuck ton of people. I didn't want to do it, but I would have." Rune grimaced as she ticked off that finger. "I've done a lot of things to keep myself secure in The Empire. If we went through with this all chances of me becoming a hero would have been shot."

"Why was the Empire about to do racial cleansing anyway?" I hadn't thought about it, but that would definitely be a reason for all the heroes in the bay to start going after them. Even the ABB assuming Asians were included in the act. It didn't make sense when I thought about it.

"The Merchants had taken the area as their territory," Rune explained. "Kaiser believed if he cleaned out all of the ni- um, black people it would scare them off and send a much more permanent message."

"That's crazy," I stated, while simultaneously not being that surprised. Rune shrugged.

"You're dealing with neo-nazis. Not exactly the most reasonable bunch."

"Fair enough," I admitted.

"Alright, where was I." Rune held up her hand with two fingers still up. "Oh yeah, after you stopped me from doing performing the unwanted sequel to Kristallnacht, you showed up and didn't immediately discount me as a bad person. It was nice. Even in the Empire people treat each other like shit. That might be more of a gang thing, but I when everyone knows you're a neo-nazi it is kind of hard to get anyone to treat you like another human being."

"Ironic," I said, a little more scathingly than I wanted to. Rune winced.

"Believe me, I know." She paused and looked down at her feet for a moment.

"And finally," Rune started again, ticking off the second finger to only hold up one. "The way you helped Panacea lead to me getting a chance to get away from the Empire and become a hero. And honestly? When a cartoon horse walks into your life, shoots you in the chest, then gets you the chance to get away from the E88 and become the hero you always wanted to be, it is probably a sign from God."

I snorted. The horse like sound causing Rune to resist laughing herself, only for it to come out as a giggle.

"You know, to be fair," I began, "I think you could have become a Ward on your own if you had tried a little harder."

"I don't think you understood the position I was in," Rune said seriously. "Armsmaster didn't believe my intent. I had been arrested two times before this and both times I was ignored when I tried to talk with the PRT officers that watched me. Hell, I even tried to talk to Vista when we had gotten into a fight once. But she was too determined to bring me down to stop and talk. My only other option would have been to contact one of the heroes and arrange a secret meeting. Something that would have gotten noticed by the others and would be all too easy to become a trap for me. I was as trapped as I possibly could be. It was only because you had sided with me that Miss Militia took it and started pressing people."

If I saw any flaw with what she said I would have pointed it out, but even if I did I wasn't the one in the situation. Even if she had the time to explain every detail to me, I probably still wouldn't understand the inner working that made her life into a prison. So instead, I decided to let out a sigh.

"Well, I guess that all makes sense," I said with a nod. Rune echoed my sentiment with a nod of her own. We fell silent for a few moments. After a minute I asked,

"Have you met the other Wards yet?"

Rune opened her mouth and closed it again. She frowned. She opened her mouth again and said,

"I did… it didn't go well."

"What happened?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Clockblocker asked if I really thought whites were better than black. Gallant was there and he can apparently sense emotions. He called me out on it when I tried to lie and the rest sort of turned off to me."

"You lied?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. I had always considered the possibility, but I never really believed she actually bought into the white supremacist agenda. She seemed too smart and too forgiving.

"It's…" Rune trailed off as she struggled to find the words she wanted. "Complicated," she finished.

"Well, we have about twenty minutes until Miss Militia comes back," I said slowly.

Rune sighed. "Have you ever believed something you know is wrong, you know is twisted, but despite everything you've done to resist acting upon that belief, you still believe it and everyone hates you for it?"

"No," I answer truthfully as a pang of guilt rose in my chest.

"I didn't think so." Things fell silent between us after that. I stared at my hooves awkwardly and tried to think of something else to say.

"So," Rune began, sounding every bit as awkward as I felt. "How is Panacea doing? She getting any more sleep?"

"Well, now that you mention it," I said, a smile spreading across my face. "She's picked up a recent fascination with gardening…"


	14. Chapter 14

I was far out of my comfort zone. It's funny, that after spending weeks fighting gangs it was sitting in this conference room that made me the most uncomfortable.

Carol Dallon, Panacea, myself, and Cheshire sat at one end of the table. On the other side were the CEOs and their lawyers of the five pharmaceutical companies that had been struggling to grow. Jacob Wins, Steven Claps, Survoy Micealis, Joice Day, Lucas Stevens. Cheshire had picked them because of apparent long stand rivalries between the five of them should leave them to keep the prices down if this deal went through. But that didn't stop each of the five drafting contracts that would have put us at a disadvantage. Of course, that just meant Cheshire tore them apart with her basic knowledge, which was then supplemented with Carol Dallon's legal knowledge. Thus increasing Cheshire's ability to tear them apart.

Amy and I sat awkwardly and silently by ourselves. The systematic destruction of the original contract and the following reconstruction as Carol and Cheshire worked off each other without even the slightest bit of planning before hand. And all this because Amy found out that the magic circuits reproduced with the plants.

And now, we are looking at the mass production of healing potions.

"And let's not forget that you could give us fifty percent in royalties on these healing potions, selling them at two bucks a pop, and you would still be turning enough profits to make every other person in the world drool," Cheshire said.

"You could retire in a year if you wanted to," Carol agreed. "So, us asking for ten percent royalties is extremely generous. So generous in fact, that these other stipulations here and here…"

I tuned out as she delved into complicated lawyer babbled that only the CEO's lawyers and Cheshire seemed to follow. I should have felt more excited because honestly, this would set me for life. We are talking about the mass production of healing potions. Even in a normal world, the need for instant heals like this would be incredible. Throw in Endbringers, capes, and all manner of other things and this was incredibly revolutionary. No, that was an understatement. This was literally world changing.

It was one thing to toss a small pebble that casts wide ripples, but we were essentially tossing a boulder into the pond that was world economics.

"You've been more than fair," one of the CEOs, Lucas I think, stated in the lull between Carol and Cheshire. "But I'm a little more interested in the side effects of such a concoction. Whatever you put in these plants that makes them work they way they do, that has to have side effects."

Eyes turned toward Panacea as they waited for a response. She swallowed nervously and spoke slowly.

"Well, there is a small downside." She paused and collected her thoughts a moment, taking a deep breath. When she spoke next it was much calmer. "It isn't a cure all. The theme seems to be that it returns a person's body to a normal state. These elixirs," we had decided 'elixir' sounded better than potion, "only return a person to what is normal. Meaning anything genetic won't be fixed. Any reconstructive or plastic surgery will get reversed to its original form. Implants will get shoved out of the way, tattoos will get erased. It doesn't do anything to stop old age and conditions because of it." Panacea paused and thought about it.

"I haven't tried on amputees, but if I had to guess their limb loss will become part of what is 'normal' for people like the old age is. In addition, shrapnel will need to be removed before a person takes an elixir."

That caused the lot of them to break out into the legal babble that left Panacea and I confused. I wanted nothing more to be literally anywhere else right now. Glory Girl and I could rip several gang warehouses apart in the time it would take for this meeting to get over.

But I couldn't. Panacea and I made these and now we had to be present at a meeting that would actually change the world. But for something with so much impact, it seemed so mundane. The balance of the world at large, reduced to a single meeting where the details were hammered out over a very long boring process.

I let my eye's glaze over as people talked around me for the next two hours. Contracts were redrafted several times. I was asked a grand total of three questions just to clarify things and to ask how much publicity I wanted for this. Past that, I just sat there and suffered for the next three hours.

The world was going to blow up in a few weeks. At the end of the arrangements, it was decided that the CEOs would make a joint announcement a few weeks before the elixirs went on the market. And then, everything would change.

Maybe I was being a little over dramatic. But honestly, this seemed far too normal for such a massive change. Panacea would produce each company a thousand seeds of each plant needed, but once they were in the company's hands it was up to them to grow them. It would take months to get the operation in full swing. And even then it would take many more months to get massive farming set ups going. But slowly and surely, there was going to be an ever increasing flow of healing potions coming out of Brockton Bay and Boston, the two cities the companies we had partnered with were based in.

I sighed and tried to push it out of my mind. Ever since Panacea had discovered that magic circuits reproduced with the plants my head has been spinning trying to figure it out. Lisa wasn't much of a help either. The question wasn't even why they did that, but how. When the magic circuits were part of me it was easy to simply say my power created the magic. But once Panacea put the circuits in the plants they produced their own magic. Granted, it wasn't near anything I could do and they didn't have any way of using it. In fact, the only thing the magic did to the plants increased their resilience, remove their biological clock, and give them the properties needed to be the potions. But the question remains, where is the magic coming from?

As important of a question it was, it only led to more questions we simply couldn't answer. Which was particularly annoying considering I was friends with someone whose power was knowing things.

Letting out a sigh, I pushed the thoughts out of my mind and tried to prepare myself as I stepped off the bus and headed towards Winslow this Monday morning. Lisa right behind me.

Dad had insisted she go to school, and not even Lisa was able to convince him otherwise. Lisa had argued that she could test for her GED, but Dad insisted she get a high school diploma if she could and that was it. Any arguments got nowhere. Which led to me standing outside the front doors of Winslow, trying to convince myself to go inside, with Lisa standing next to me.

"Come on, I'm sure it won't be that bad," Lisa said, giving me a gentle prod forward.

"Oh yes it will," I muttered as I walked forward, adjusting the satchel that had replaced my backpack. Lisa rolled her eyes at me as we went inside.

Lisa picked up her schedule from the office as we passed it. The secretary gave me an odd look from behind the desk but didn't say anything. Lisa thanked her with a smile and turned back to me. She handed the schedule to me without even looking at and pushing past me.

I followed her out as I opened up the paper and took a look. Unfortunately, she didn't have computer class with me, which I suppose was too much to hope for. But after that we shared classes, which should have been a relief. But instead, it caused a rising feeling of anxiety in my chest.

Lisa walked up with me to Knott's computer class. How did she wear that smile everywhere so easily? Honestly, this was still high school. Shouldn't she be at least a little put off at the idea of going to classes?

"Taylor," Lisa suddenly said. "Relax. You're so stiff it looks like you're about to snap in half." Immediately I forced myself to loosen up, relaxing my shoulders and going into a slouch. Not for the first time, I was glad I had chosen to go with a T-shirt and jeans instead of skirt Lisa had recommended when picking out clothing. It wasn't as concealing as what I used to wear, but it wasn't too attention getting. My hair and mark did that well enough.

Eyes watched us as I walked up to the crowd outside the class door. On the other end of the hall, I could see Sophia standing around with some other girls from the track team staring daggers into me. I haven't even been here for a full fifteen minutes and Sophia had already found a reason to be angry with me.

"I'll catch you later Taylor," Lisa told me with a wink. "Don't get too distracted." I swallowed as she turned away and disappeared around the corner. The one person in this whole school who was on my side.

I took a deep breath and faced the door of the class. It was an easy course and had a mixed class. Some people there had taken her class three times and were part of the advance class while I was with everyone else. Because of the old laptop my mother made sure I had I probably knew more than most of the other students in the same group as me. I might be able to test out, but until then I was stuck with the slow learners. But that was okay, I didn't need this class to challenge me. Quite the opposite. I need this to be the one class where I could relax.

When Mrs. Knott arrived to unlock the door, I saw Sophia walking towards me. The crowd of students was too thick for me to push my way into to avoid her, and moving out of the way would only cause her to pursue me and the end result would be worse. I moved my satchel to the other side so she couldn't grab it or use it to knock me off balance when she walked past. The bag was almost sixty pounds with all the stuff I've been putting inside of it, heavy for someone who's body hadn't be changed like mine but it could still put me off balance easily. My first instinct was to brace myself against her, but she would take it as a challenge. I forced myself to prepare like I didn't know she was coming, not making eye contact with her.

I was surprised when she bumped roughly into my shoulder. Not because she did it, she had done it plenty of times before, but because she grabbed my arm and pulled me closer to whisper something in my ear.

"Be careful who you idolize, Herbert." She roughly shoved me back into the thinning crowd of classmates, causing me to stumble into someone. When I managed to regain my balance she was walking away, her track friends following closely behind her.

Shaking my head and quickly apologizing to the kid I bumped into, I shuffled into the classroom behind the last few students. I would be more confused over what she meant, but at the same time it wasn't hard to imagine someone like Sophia taking a personal offense to something as cute and cartoon as Nova. There wasn't anything I could do about that.

Sitting down at my computer stall I saw Mrs. Knott had pre-emptively dropped a list of all the lessons I had missed. Being part of the slightly less advanced students she didn't give out nearly as many assignments, which was less I had to catch up, and most of these lessons I already knew about. What I didn't know amounted to fifteen minutes of online videos she had linked me to. They weren't anything interesting.

Without much else to do and completely uninterested in what Mrs. Knott was currently saying, I opened up a new tab and started browsing the PHO. Particularly, articles about me.

It was more or less the same. A few new fan thread, the discussion and theory thread was buzzing, and I even found the thread Glenn had mentioned before. It was actually full of a lot of surprising skilled drawings of Nova fighting…. Well, everything. There was one that showed me standing taller than the Simurgh as I pummeled her with meteors. Another showed me blasting Sleeper bubble with my magic. Apparently, it was making more progress than the other energy based weapons had. Some art wasn't as talented as the others, but most of it was pretty good. It surprised me.

Looking a little deeper I found that other heroes had similar threads that had long since gone dormant. Glory Girl and Vista both had one. Some other female heroes with themes of being cute or beautiful all had some. Alexandria had one, but it wasn't as long as others due to the fact that while she was cool, she wasn't nearly as cute as Vista. And in the end, it seemed like that was the main motivating factor for these artists.

Suddenly, an alert popped up on the site that read 'Breaking News'. Looking around to make sure no one was watching and double checking to make sure the computer volume was off, I clicked the alert for the news site it was linked to.

My first reaction was for my mouth to fall open slightly in shock. My second reaction was to clench my teeth together and grip the mouse tight enough that I thought it would break.

On the screen was footage of the PRT building getting surrounded in a forest of blades as Hookwolf burst out of one side of the building. Armsmaster approached him, wielding his halberd, only for a beam of fire shot out of the hand of Viktor to rip up the ground between them. More blade sprouted up out of the ground to surround Armsmaster, trapping him in a cage. Vista suddenly appeared with Miss Militia and Kid Win standing next to her. The latter two fired a single shot of the weapons they were holding, a rocket launcher and some sort of laser weapon, before the three of them took a step back into distorted space and moved safely out of range before another blast of fire came from Viktor.

I took a deep breath and let it out with a frustrated sigh. Hookwolf was breaking out of prison, and I was stuck in school.


	15. Chapter 15

I flew through the air, Cheshire on my back. It was the first time I had carried someone and it was only because I had suddenly grown.

I didn't know what it was, but something was gone. Like a connection I had established was suddenly and violently broken and it made me angry even though I didn't have a reason. My magic was felt like it was thundering through my veins, nearly explosive in its need to be used. Something was affecting me, making me stronger, angrier, and larger.

The thought should have scared me, but it didn't. I was too focused on moving forward.

I was flying over the city, looking down in an attempt to spot something. Hookwolf had broken free which probably meant that The Empire was pushing back against the ABB. My thoughts moved to Rune and whether or not they broke her out but I thought against it. Rune had been moved to a completely different prison cell. The Empire wouldn't have know that.

"Nova," Cheshire said into my ear, yelling over the wind pummeled us. "North end of downtown, go there."

I nodded silently and began my descent, stretching my wings out to go into a half glide, half dive.

The first thing I saw was Glory Girl floating upwards to meet me. Her normal cheerful grin was gone. The second thing I saw was a massive statue made of malformed metal that looked like it had been in the process of melting standing about twenty feet from a massive hole in the middle of the street. It didn't have a discernable form with the metal being too twisted to properly make it out. The statue was surrounded by dozens of PRT officers and a few Protectorate members. Dauntless, Triumphant, and Armsmaster.

"Glory Girl?" I asked on approach, flapping my wing to hover in midair better. I was vaguely aware of Cheshire shifting on my back and grabbing fist-fulls of my fur so she didn't fall off.

"What's going on?"

"Hookwolf got torched," Glory Girl responded grimly.

"What?" I asked.

"Oh, shit," Cheshire said.

"Come on," Glory Girl said while shaking her head. "You've got to see this."

She led the way back down to the ground and touched down just in front of the metal statue. Now that I was closer, I could see the resemblance to Hookwolf. It was on all fours except for one limb that was reaching forward, what had previously been claws melting into finger like appendages. The locations where the eyes would have been was completely covered with now cooled metal. The only opening in the statues was the mouth, where powerful jaws were hanging open in a nonexistent roar. There were strands of cooled metal stretching between the upper and lower jaw where they had previously melted together.

"What the heck happened?" I found myself asking without thinking about it first.

"We're still trying to figure that out," Armsmaster said as he approached. His eyes lingered on Cheshire, still mounted on my back. "An analysis of the scene shows that somehow Hookwolf was dropping into this hole," Armsmaster gestured with a hand at the hole in the ground behind us, "which was filled with some unknown liquid accelerant. The accelerant, being particularly vicious, trapped Hookwolf inside for a few moments just before several dozen flame throwers and napalm jets sprayed him. Igniting the accelerant and starting the process that would end up melting Hookwolf's changer body around him."

Cheshire slid off my back and walked over to the hole as Armsmaster spoke. She knelt down and looked inside for a few second before turning around and looking at Hookwolf. A dark look passed over her face.

"The Workers did this," she stated.

"How do you know?" Armsmaster asked seriously.

"Her power," I answered as I turned my whole body to face Cheshire. The surrounding PRT officers were staring at me and her now. "She basically has a Thinker power based on deduction, letting her know things like that." While it wasn't completely true, it got the point across and protected her real power if for some reason she wanted to keep it a secret.

"We still can't just take what you say at face value," Armsmaster said with a frown. "If you came to the PRT building to get vetted we can start the process."

"No need," Cheshire said with a wave of her hand. "There is more going on here. For instance, this hole? It's been here for months. Those bits of twisted metal you there at the bottom? Those were structural supports meant to collapse from a remote trigger somewhere else. And it wasn't just a few dozen flame throwers and napalm jets, it was almost fifty."

"Jesus," Glory Girl said with a sharp breath. "How does someone even do something like that without getting noticed."

Armsmaster fell silent and Cheshire began studying him silently.

"There's more." Cheshire realized after a few seconds had passed. "Hookwolf wasn't the only one to be killed today, was he?"

"I think that is enough said in this location," Dauntless said, walking up to them. "Director Piggot has called every hero in the city, independent and otherwise, to the PRT building for a debriefing. We can continue this conversation there.

"I think that is for the best," Armsmaster said as he took steps towards the PRT vans. "We'll meet there and compare notes."

Dauntless nodded in agreement and turn on his heels, going the other way.

"Um?" Glory Girl asked with a hint of confusion. "What was that?"

"Nothing good," Cheshire responded bitterly. She walked back over to me and moved to climb on my back. I knelt down to assist her. "I've got a few theories, but we're going to want to go to this meeting before you hear them."

"Oh that doesn't sound ominous at all," I said dryly.

"Trust me, you don't know the half of it."

"You are really giving me the creeps, you know that?" Glory Girl asked as she raised up into the air. I appreciated her wanting to make light of this situation, but if my feeling of loss from before wasn't enough to show something was wrong here then this certainly was. I took off the ground with a jump, soaring up as fast as I dared with Cheshire on my back before turning to heading towards the PRT building.

PRT officers were out to greet us the moment we landed, Glory Girl not far behind us. Cheshire slid off my back the moment we were on the ground. An officer walked out to meet with us, flanked by two more with foam sprayers on their back.

"This way Nova," he told me. "Who is your tag along?" I glanced at Cheshire, who answered for me.

"A previously anonymous partner. Cheshire, you can call me." The man nodded and turned away to lead us inside.

Getting in was much the same, although now I noticed I was as tall as most people's shoulders. Yet, despite that, no one was looking me in the eye.

We were led to the Tinker elevator and stepped silently inside with the three PRT officers that had greeted us. Nothing was said. Silence filled the small compartment as not even Cheshire thought of something to point out.

The doors open and we were led down a hallway I had not yet encountered. They brought us to a conference room and we let ourselves inside to see every hero in the city gathered.

All of New Wave was here minus Panacea who was probably out healing people, independents that have been doing some off and on work the last couple of months, the Wards, and at least half of the Protectorate. I assumed the rest were out running damage control.

"Nova, glad you finally made it." The voice belonged to Director Piggot, who was standing at the head of the table, addressing the rest of the room. I scowled but didn't say anything, just nodded. A lot of people were staring at me and Cheshire, but I didn't care. I still couldn't shake the feeling something had happened and I needed to know.

"Is there anyone else?" Piggot asked Armsmaster, who was standing by her side.

"Only some obscure independents that might not have gotten the message. We are ready to begin."

"Good," Piggot said with a curt nod. She glanced at everyone around the room sourly and started to speak.

"We will go over this in the order that it occurred," Piggot stated. "Three hours ago, Hookwolf was sprung free from his cell. Because of the increased gang activity, Vista and Kid Win were pulled from school to be on call and were subsequently there to assist Miss Militia and Armsmaster as they attempted to stop them. However, during the Empire's escape, an unknown sniper took out Krieg before his power could be used to save him. So far, there is no information on the sniper.

"Then, about thirty minutes later our camera feed shut off and when it came back on, everyone in our normal prisoner cells were set loose and Rune had been shot in the head." Piggot's expression didn't change as she said it, making me chest clench up in anger. I opened my mouth to say something, but Piggot pressed on before I could.

"And finally, we have Hookwolf. Subject to extreme heats so fast that his outer form melted around him. All three scenarios, we have no idea who is responsible. But what we do know," Piggot held up a finger. "They have someone with enough skill to fire a sniper rifle from far enough away they were able to escape before we track them down. They have the resources to dig massive pits in the middle of the street without getting noticed. And they have the ability to get inside of our building, turn off our cameras, and execute a prisoner."

"Coil would seem like the most likely," Armsmaster said. "He has been known for using ex-military mercenaries before."

"Stop," I demanded, slamming my hoof into the table. The room fell silent and look at me.

"Stop what, precisely, Nova?" Piggot asked me sourly.

"Pretending like you can avoid the subject by moving past it as fast as you can," I responded bitterly, throwing her a dirty look. "How was Rune killed? It was your job to protect her." I stated, removing my hoof from the table and placing it on the floor in an angry gesture.

"It was our job to arrest her," Piggot countered. "When you cons-"

"No!" I shouted at her, causing everyone to take a step back as my voice took an odd inflection that made it sound more powerful. "She wanted to become a Ward! She wanted to be one of you!" I pointed a hoof at all the heroes lined up. "But she was in the prison cell because you couldn't give her a chance, because it would hurt your precious PR too much. Her death is on your stupid prejudices! And now we don't even have a clue who is responsible!

I hadn't thought half of the things I said until I said them, but once I had, I knew I was right. Rune had been locked away for two weeks with the hope that these people would make her a hero, and now she was dead because of it. Because they took one look at her and said 'Nazi'.

I turned around started walking out the door. Cheshire who had been unusually quiet, walking right behind me.

"Nova!" I heard a familiar voice calling. I turned and saw Miss Militia striding forward after me. "I'm sorry about Rune," she said sincerely, "But we aren't going to find who is responsible any easier without your help. Whoever these people are, they're dangerous."

"They are," I said honestly. "But I think it is obvious that Director Piggot doesn't care about Rune and never has. And I'm going to find who killed her, and I can't do that here."

A/N ALL CHAPTER FROM HERE TO NINETEEN HAVE GONE UNDER A MAJOR REWRITE


	16. Chapter 16

Once we had gotten a large distance away from the PRT building I came to a halt in midair, craning my neck to look around at Cheshire on my back behind me. Before I even got my question out she said,

"Let's start with getting Panacea. If we're going to go after these people, it is probably going to require some not-so-healthy interrogation tactics."

I nodded silently and took off and the direction of the hospital. The trip would give me some time with my thoughts.

The Workers, Cheshire had said. They were the ones that killed Hookwolf and it would be too much of a coincidence that they weren't involved with the other murders. Namely, Rune's. I felt something twist inside of my gut as I thought about it. Rune… was a racist. She had been a gang member. She had done a lot of things that weren't all that great, but she was willing and wanting to change. We hadn't been the best of friends, but we were friends, I hoped. But that wasn't even the reason why I was so angry at these people, at least not entirely. It was because she had potential. She could have gone on and been a hero, become someone other than 'the Nazi'. People could have stopped thinking of her as the worst dregs of society and maybe start thinking about her as a human being for once. In the end, these nameless people didn't just kill Rune or a friend. They killed everything she could have been. And that hit me harder than anything else.

I was suddenly hit with the desire to be at the hospital that much quicker, but instead of my wings picking up speed to carry me, I felt my magic shift within me to accommodate. Instinctively, I start to let it flow out of my horn and felt it envelop me and Cheshire and stop, waiting for more input.

I focused on the hospital, more specifically, my want to be there. My magic hummed responsively like I was making the right choice but I wasn't quite there yet. I tried pushing my magic one way or another. Shoving it, pulling it, expanding it, shrink-

Suddenly Cheshire and I collapsed with a pop and reappeared outside the front doors of the hospital, causing a nurse on her break to shriek and drop her coffee cup. I reached out with my magic to grab it before it hit the ground, a little bit of coffee spilling out as I did so.

I floated it back up to her and said, "We're looking for Panacea, can you take us to her?"

The nurse grabbed the cup out of the air with wide eyes and said, "Ooo, girl! You done scared the livin daylights outta me! You go around flashin' around and poppin' into place everywhere you go? You gonna give old lady a heart attack, oh my Lord."

I looked back at Cheshire just to make sure this was real and my improvised teleport didn't just make her out of my subconscious or something crazy like that. She seemed undeterred by the events.

"Um," I said, giving my head a shake to attempt to get my thoughts back on track. "Panacea? Can you tell us where she is at?"

"Panacea? Oh thats easy! She'll be the emergency room takin' care of them gangers that been shootin' themselves left and right, uh huh. I tell you I don't know how this city still has a crime problem the way these people shoot each other all the day long. Mhm, every God given day people out there droppin' like flies and actin' like that's our problem. And then there's Panacea, puttin' them back together when the going get tough and we get more than usual. Sure makes my job easier though, that's right."

"Alright," Cheshire said cheerfully, too cheerfully to be real. "We'll just going then."

"Alright sugar," the nurse said with a wave. "Don't you go poppin' in on me like that again now you here?"

At the first opportunity to escape, Cheshire and I hurried into the hospital.

"What was that," I asked as people turned to stare at us as we walked through the reception area.

"Veteran nurse," Cheshire said casually. "Apparently, you're not nearly as weird as half of the other things she has seen come through since she started working here. Really makes me want to go back and try to find out more about the other half, and at the same time, it doesn't."

We walked down the halls, drawing more and more stares as we went. Mostly from patients and people visiting them, nurses and doctors didn't seem all that surprised by us. Now I was also beginning to wonder what could possibly be coming through this hospital that a magical cartoon horse with a mane that seemingly defies gravity isn't automatically the strangest thing they have seen.

The noise emanating from the emergency wing hit us before we actually got near enough to the door to see inside. Every chair was full of gang members of all colours. E88 sitting next to Merchants as they silently cradled their wounds, stretchers out in the walk ways and waiting areas, nurses running back and forth with paperwork in hand, doctors being forced to remove bullets right in the middle of the chaos. And all the while the white blur that was Panacea was darting back and forth on a touch and go basis. She would walk up to one, quickly ask if she could heal them, and give them a brief touch before drawing a circle on the backs of their hands with a green marker. To indicate they were stable if I had to guess.

Despite the way the two of us stood out among the crowd, barely a single person turned their heads towards us. Let alone Panacea. I thought about raising my voice to call out to her, but I doubted we could drag her away from her work here. My next thought was to pull her away and get her to grow ingredients at a constant rate while I used my telekinesis to make healing potions on a mass scale. But while the thought was tempting, the potions would cause any wounds to heal around any bullets or otherwise lodged into these people. Causing unnecessary surgery later they probably couldn't afford.

Glancing at the law enforcement in the room, I saw them guarding the doors and accepting the members from the hospital attendants as they were cleared. I knelt down next to Cheshire and quietly as I could while still being heard over the bustle, I asked,

"What would it take to get drag Panacea away from here?"

"Hmm," Cheshire considered a moment. "You wouldn't by chance have some sort of mass heal spell, would you?"

"Uh, no," I answered. "But the healing potions originally came from my magic, and now they're getting powered by magic of their own. You think I could cut out the middleman, so to speak?"

"I have no idea," Cheshire sighed. "Magic, it's like it is covered in water. I just can't get a grip on it."

"Then point me towards one of them that doesn't currently have a bullet in him."

Without responding, Cheshire grabbed my hand and dragged me across the room. An impressive feat given that I was the size of a small horse, my flowing mane making up about half of that space, and that the room was as packed as it was.

She brought me in front of an ABB member that was suffering from an eye wound and a bullet through the shoulder. He was attempting to apply pressure to each but wasn't very effective at it.

"A shallow knife cut to the eye," Cheshire told me. "And through bullet wound to the shoulder. A sniper of some sort. Either Coil's or one of the Four."

I nodded silently to her and focus my magic to my horn and tried to get a feel for how I wanted my magic to take form. Before now, all my magic had been a more general all body effect. My telekinesis, my plant charging, even my recently discovered teleporting. But I was getting a different feeling when I thought about my intentions. Some underlying instinct telling me a more directed form would be better. Something like… a beam.

With the form of it decided, I tried to give it the catalyst to actually move into him. With plants, it is specific emotion, with telekinesis it was actually reaching out with the magic, with teleporting it was intense desire to be at that one place. This needed something like that. And considering that my healing potions were made from plants charge with love, I figured that was a good place to start.

I brought up an old memory of my mother giving me one of my favourite books, focusing specifically on the emotion of it. Instantly something clicked in place and I felt my magic shoot out of my horn with a flash.

Opening my eyes, I saw the man was enveloped with a bright pink light, the same colour of my potions. There were a few sound effects that accompanied the beam and it striking the man, followed by him going invisible for a few moments. The rest of the room fell silent for a moment and stared.

The light faded and the light faded to reveal the ABB member in perfect condition, eye repaired and shoulder perfectly fine. Even the blood stains that had been on his clothing were gone.

I turned with a grin to look at the now staring clinic. "Now that I'm sure that won't end horribly, care for some more cape help?"

"Um," the nurse closest to me said slowly. "We'll need to get permission from the head nurse." The woman suddenly straightened up and whistled loudly and suddenly a familiar voice started shouting across the room.

"Woman! The hell you callin' me over here for? I got thugs to yank hunks of metal out of!"

"Uh," the woman said, a little embarrassed. "Nova here can apparently heal people and we need your permission to get her assistance."

"You stupid or somethin'? We gonna need all the help we can get around here, you outta- what you still standin' here for? Go get doing ya job! Go on, git!" She waved the files she had been holding in her hand at the nurse, causing her to duck and scamper off. It stirred the other people back into action and the clinic was suddenly busy again.

The head nurse turned back to me. "Alright, you got some fantastical magic doodads to hit this sorry lot with. I 'bout had up ta here with these fools I tell ya! If I weren't such a kind patient woman I'd smack these fools upside the head I would!"

"Yes," I said, still trying to get over the way this woman talked. "It's a bad idea for anyone with foreign objects lodged in them, though."

"Notta problem. Girls! And Tim!" The nurse called out over the crowd. "Now you all bring them without bullets lodge in 'em on over to miss pony here! Y'all hear me?"

"Yes!" The staff responded almost too fast.

"Good," she said before turning back to me and looking at Cheshire.

"You got any of them fancy healin' powers by any chance."

"Not really, no," Cheshire answered honestly.

"How about a medical degree? Or you spend all that money you steal from gangers on spandex?"

"I got the next best thing," Cheshire said.

"Close enough, now get moving."

"Wait," I said. "What's your name?" But she was already gone. I looked at Cheshire and she shrugged. I guess this was our life for the next hour or so. I found it odd how far I had come off track in such a short time, heck I was grinning just a moment ago when I found out I did, in fact, have a healing ability. I didn't want to forget the reason I came though, Rune's death. Something had to be done and the PRT wasn't going to do it.

The Workers were going to find themselves at the receiving end of a horn that is decidedly not shooting healing beams.


	17. Chapter 17

The three of us were in the staff lounge now, Panacea and Cheshire sitting while I elected to stand as it felt more comfortable. We had spent almost an hour and a half running around healing the various gang members that had been hurt in a strange increase in fighting between them. Then we discovered a side effect of my healing beam, it made people I used it on unable to swear. At that point all the black nurses handled the Empire gang members and poked fun at them, causing them to get red in the face as they tried to cuss them out and couldn't.

It was fun, but it was also a distraction. Now that it is over, we can finally move on to the more serious topic. Finding Rune's killers.

"I think it is pretty clear who is behind this," Cheshire said, gripping a cup of coffee. "The Workers hit Hookwolf with an elaborate trap design specifically for him. It took lots of time and money to set up and can't possibly be unrelated to Krieg and Rune."

"But if The Workers did this," Panacea cut in, "Why have only Empire and ABB members come in? Along with the rare mercenary from Coil's men?"

"Because of how they did it," Cheshire said. "The sniper Krieg took was clearly meant to throw attention at Coil. The melting of Hookwolf was meant to throw attention at the few pyrokinetics in the city, meaning Lung and Faultline's Crew. And Rune's death was to get the PRT into panic mode at how easily someone shut off their systems and did something completely unnoticed. On top of the fact that The Empire had been biding their time to take back their territory anyway. These people want the major groups to fight, probably because it means they won't spend their time fighting The Workers and the like."

"You say that like they're two different people," I pointed out. Cheshire nodded.

"That hole had to be dug months before The Workers actually became a thing, meaning whoever these people are they have been here for a very long time. And since they and the other three gangs all popped up at the same time, I think it is safe to say there is no way in hell they aren't working together."

"But do you guys need me?" Panacea suddenly asked, looking between us. "This all sounds like a job for the two of you. The one that can knock heads and the one that can deduce things. I heal people."

"You can do much more than that," Cheshire said. "If the plants and elixirs are anything to go by." Panacea frowned and opened her mouth to say something but Cheshire silenced her with a dismissive wave. "Relax, we just wanted you to heal some guys we planned to beat the snot out of." Cheshire paused and said, "But if you did by chance decide to experiment I might have a few suggestions as to-"

"No," Panacea said flatly.

"Fine, fine." Cheshire held up her defensively. But then a thought entered my mind.

"Panacea," I said slowly, thinking as I went. "You're not just a healer. You're a biokinetic, correct?"

Panacea's frown deepened. "In a sense, yes."

"Well, taking Cheshire into the field with me is always has some risk. I can fly and pick things up from across the room to avoid danger. I have a shield that can stop bullets and was able to take a hit from Hookwolf. But Chesire doesn't have that. While it is nice talking to her over the microphone to get information, it is better simply to have her there."

"What are you asking?" Panacea asked flatly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I'm asking that you making Cheshire's body better," I told her bluntly. "Increase her muscle tone, iron out any faults in her organs or otherwise. Something like that."

Panacea made a face as she considered it. We watched her as the idea went through her mind. Eventually, finding no fault in the reasoning, she sighed and said,

"Alright, give me your hand and I'll see what I can do."

Cheshire grew a vulpine grin and held out her hand. Panacea took it silently and started working.

I didn't see any outward changes besides the occasional movement of her skin. The expression on Cheshire's face underneath the domino mask shifted every now and then as her eyebrows shot up and her grin came and went.

Five minutes had passed when Panacea finally took her hand away from Cheshire and smiled a little as she explained to me what she had done.

"I increased her muscle density so she has more muscle without actually looking like it. On top of that, I increase her lungs' ability to absorb oxygen while simultaneously creating a bacteria that produces oxygen at a much higher rate than normal. Her immune system is strong enough to kill anything that might make her sick. I also made her skin a middle ground between a hard, shell like substance and a rubbery kevlar-esque material. It still feels like normal skin but it should be enough to stop knives. I don't know about bullets though. I wouldn't suggest it. Chemicals like adrenalin are going to be more effective and last longer."

"This is fucking great!" Cheshire said enthusiastically as she examined her hands. "I'm basically a Brute now." I couldn't help but smile a little at that.

"Thanks," I told Panacea. "Now, are you ready to head out with us? I don't want to hurt anyone too badly, but I will if I need to."

"I don't know," she responded indecisively. "There is still a lot of gang fighting going on. They might still need me here."

"Well," Cheshire began with a grin. "We can always ask the head nurse if she needs you."

Panacea paled a little. "N-No! That's fine, we don't have to go and see her. Let's just go and you can drop me off back here when we're done, right?"

"Right," I said with a nod, though I didn't quite believe it myself. We were probably going to be out for a long while, probably longer that Panacea would be able to work as per our agreement. And once these potions come out, she probably won't be needing to work much at all except for the occasional genetic deformity.

"Now let's get going," I said with a stretch of my wings. "I have some questions I need to ask."

"Alright," I said. "Let's try this again." I was holding a Worker just beneath the cloud layer with my magic. Cheshire said we still have a few thousand meters before the four of us were going to need oxygen, but I didn't think going above the cloud layer was going to be that necessary. Besides, with both Panacea and Cheshire on my back, flying was a little more difficult. It was harder as a whole, but it made it harder to change course or pick up speed. Though, I doubted the ganger cared about that.

"Who is in charge?" I asked carefully.

"I don't fucking know!" The ganger shouted as he flailed his arms wildly.

"Who is supplying you?"

"I don't know, I swear!"

"What is your goal?"

"To fight the other gangs in the city! Please, put me down!"

I looked back at Cheshire who shook her head. I looked back at the guy and rolled my eyes and let him go.

I teleported back down to the group and the wave of dizziness hit me at the same time as another hit of magically exhaustion struck me. The healing spell I had learned was far from an efficient one, with my flight time across the city being my only period to recharge that magic. The teleports I had been learning to fine tune wasn't all that easy either.

"Um," Cheshire began thoughtfully as she looked upward. "Go about fifty feet that way, the wind currents are blowing him around like a leave in the wind." I took off in the direction that she indicated, landing lightly on the roof of a defunct warehouse. I saw the ganger coming down as a black speck against the darkening sky. We were on the tail end of sunset, making the sky still a little bright but not by much.

Mindful that it isn't actually the fall that kills people but the sudden stop at the end, I reached out with my magic and grabbed the back of his shirt where the glow would be less obvious and started slowing him down.

He was still screaming up until he was only a few dozen yards from us, at which point I grabbed him fully with my magic and drew him close to us again. He had soiled his pants.

"Anything to say now?" I asked. He hung his head but didn't say anything. I looked back at Cheshire and she shrugged, sliding off my back and onto the roof. She walked up to the guy and grabbed him by the jaw, pointing his head downward at her so their eye met.

"Well, since you know we're not going to turn you into grease mark on the road, there is only one or two things left we can do." Cheshire forced his mouth open to reveal his teeth inside. Recognizing what she wanted me to do, I gave a molar in the back a little tug. Not enough to pull it fully out, but enough that it would be uncomfortable. If he made me, I would pull slowly until the tooth came all the way out. That wouldn't be very comfortable.

"Wait," Panacea said, sliding off my back to join Cheshire. "Is this really necessary?"

"We have to find out who is responsible," I told her seriously.

Panacea rolled her eyes and started walking up to him. "Sure," she said. "But you don't have to beat every guy into submission just learn what we need. I think I got a better way, hold him to the ground."

Cheshire suddenly grinned and stepped aside for her as I set the man on the ground. Panacea knelt down next to him and put a hand on his neck.

"You feel that?" She asked innocently. "That is your foot falling asleep, and unless you tell us what we need to know it is going to stay that way for the rest of your life."

"What is it going to take to get you three bitches to lay off me?" The man hissed back at her. "I don't know nothin'!"

"This feeling?" Panacea continued. "That is constant, unstoppable heartburn. Are you sure you don't know anything?"

"Goddamn it no!"

"Fine, then how about a never ending itchy spot on the part of your back where you can't reach?"

"Stop it you fucking cape bitch! I told you all, I don't know nothin'!"

"Fine," Panacea said, standing up and brushing her hands off. "I guess we'll just go then."

She had started walking away when the man called out to her again. "Goddamn it, I do know someone, the guy who give me orders!"

I took a few steps forward and looked down at him. "We've been chasing those leads all day," I told him. "The only thing anyone ever seems to know is who to gives them their orders and nothing else. We're going to need more than that."

"And don't think you can claim you don't know again," Cheshire cut in. "Because I know you know something."

I released my hold on the guy and he instantly started squirming, clutching at his chest, attempting to scratch his back, trying to decide what to do with his right foot as everything only made it worse.

"The Doctors!" The man cried. "We allied with The Doctors and were supposed to go on a joint mission twenty minutes ago!"

"What was the mission," I demanded.

"We're using the conflict between the E88, Coil, and the ABB to distract them and most of the PRT from noticing an attack on Merchant territory!"

"Why is that such a big deal? Why do you need them distracted?"

"Please," the man begged. "Make it stop."

"Answer the questions," I ordered, feeling increasingly frustrated.

"Because we're supposed to kill everyone there, including all of the capes and we don't want anyone thinking we're a threat yet! Now please!"

"Where is this happening?"

"I don't know! I was supposed to go to a location where I would get taken to the place we were headed!"

With a sigh, I motioned to Panacea while grabbing him with my telekinesis. Panacea touched him and within a second he stopped squirming and relaxed with a blissful sigh.

"Nova," Cheshire said, getting my attention. "I know the Merchants aren't that much of a presence in the city, but that is still a lot of ground to cover by ourselves. And if they are planning on fighting their capes, then it might as well be a cape battle."

"We need to call the Protectorate," I realized. They were the only ones I could think of capable of helping us with this. Even then it wasn't a guarantee.

Panacea let out a heavy sigh. "I really did want to get back to the hospital tonight."


	18. Chapter 18: Assault Interlude

Armsmaster and the van full of PRT officers going to meet Nova and the others took in the correct direction, leaving Assualt behind with the others. Miss Militia gave a nod to Velocity to let him know it was okay for him to go on ahead and look for wherever this fighting was supposed to be taking place. With that done the three of them, Miss Militia, Battery, and himself continued forward.

They were in a neighborhood on the south end of Brockton Bay. During the development of the area, the building zones had gotten screwed up, leading to factories and cheap, government sponsored, apartment buildings getting constructed right next to each other. They matched each other in terms of aesthetic. Small, multistory, brick buildings with decrepit parking lots overgrown with weeds. The only thing that was really separated the abandoned factories from the apartments where the large metal doors in the loading bays, doors that had long since rusted over.

Assault spied people shrinking away from them as they scoured the area, ducking into alleys and closing the doors to their buildings. A few shut themselves up in the defunct factories, something Assault guessed was technically trespassing but he couldn't find it in himself to care. He couldn't imagine anyone else caring that much either.

Suddenly, Velocity came screaming up to them, the expression on his face clearly showing he had found the fight.

"Lead the way," Miss Militia said grimly. Velocity nodded silently and did so, taking them down several more streets at a brisk jog before stopping outside on of the larger warehouses.

Velocity, Miss Militia, Assault, and Battery all approached the scene cautiously. Even he was silent upon approach, which he made him realize he had been oddly silent the whole mission. All around them, Merchants laid dead. It wasn't the first or the only location, but it was the worst. The Doctors had long since swept through here, killing every last one. Skidmark was the first body they found, and only because they lifted him up and put him on a massive pile of drugs they made before setting it on fire. The drugs, mostly bricks of cocaine, weren't burning that fast. Velocity was able to run up the stack, grab Skidmark, and pull him back down. It was a small mercy for someone who likely didn't deserve it, but not everyone got that today.

Searching further into the building they found a set of stairs that lead down into a basement. Miss Militia silently directed Assault and Battery to keep searching the building while she and Velocity descended further. Assault looked at Battery and gave her a shrug before continuing onward.

They moved into the next room, an area where semi truck trailers would have been loaded before the building was abandoned for whatever reason. Battery knelt down to check the pulse of some more Merchant bodies. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't anything. Assault took a step forward when he heard sobbing.

Battery shot to her feet in alarm and started to glow when Assault held out a hand to her. Slowly, he stalked forward on the balls of his feet.

Turning a corner, he found the source of the sobs. A little girl, no more than eight years old, was hiding in a dark corner behind some stack boxes while sobbing into her hands. She had strawberry blond hair that was incredibly dirty. She wore second-hand clothing that was unrecognizable from what it might have been.

Unable to think of anything else to do, Assault gently knocked on the side of the boxes as if politely asking permission to enter her room.

The little girl's head shot upward to look at him with an expression that was a mix of shock and horror at being discovered. She opened her mouth but no sound came out so she started scrambling backwards, driving herself deeper into the corner away from Assault.

"Hey now, it's okay," Assault said calmly. "We're heroes. We're here to help." The girl only whimpered in response and tried to curl up in a ball.

"What is a child doing here in the first place?" Battery asked. Assault shot her a look.

"Even drug dealers have lives," he answered curtly before turning back to the child. "Hey, come on out, we're not going to hurt you."

The girl looked up at him tentatively and he gave her an encouraging smile.

"You're heroes?" She whispered.

"Positively," Assault said. "We're here to help you." She hesitated for a moment, then got to her feet. She took small steps towards him and he held out a hand for her to grab.

"Did you see what happened here?" Battery asked. Assault shot her another look that only seemed to confuse her.

"N-no," the girl mumbled. "Daddy told me to hide and not to make a sound. I didn't see anything."

"How about your name?" Assault asked. "Can you remember that?"

The girl's eyebrows furrowed together as she thought.

"I can't," she stated. "All I can think of are shapes and numbers." Assault and Battery looked at each other and paled a little.

"What kind of shapes?" Battery asked slowly.

"Like… wheels with square bits on the edges. And pointy sticks of metal."

Assault swallowed and looked at Battery. He opened his mouth to say something when the little hand radio on Battery's hip buzzed.

"Battery?" Miss Militia asked. "Assault? Squealer is holed up in the basement threatening to blow up anyone who comes near her. Come in to assist."

"That may be a problem," Battery said uncertainly. "We found a survivor, a little girl."

"Go on ahead," Assault said, holding down the button on his own radio so Miss Militia would hear. "I'll take her back to HQ and meet up with you later."

"Are you sure," Battery asked in an unsteady tone like she wasn't fully sure what the proper response should be.

"Positively," Assault said with a nod. "Go on, get going. I'll meet up with you later. I promise." Battery gave a nod before walking out of the room, picking up into a brisk jog after that. Assault turned towards the little girl and smiled lightly.

"Would you like to go get some ice cream?"

"Get this girl a triple scoop vanilla waffle cone!" Assault declared as he strode into the ice cream store, the little girl behind him. Everyone in the store turned around and stared at him as he marched right up to the counter.

"And I'll take a single scoop of the same," Assault said, a small grin spreading across his face.

"R-right away!" The woman behind the counter said as she hurried to get what he asked for. He heard the little girl giggle at the woman's reaction.

After fishing out his wallet from his tight costume pockets and paying for the ice cream, they walked outside and took a seat in the lawn chairs they had. They ate their ice cream silently for a good long moment until the little girl said,

"Vanilla."

"Indeed," Assault said with a nod.

"No silly," the girl said with a shake of her head, a sad smile growing on her lips. "My name. I don't remember mine, and I like vanilla."

"Really?" Assault asked with a raised eyebrow. "Why's that?"

"Because that is the ice cream cone you got for me, silly."

"Well, now I'm glad I didn't get you the triple chocolate fudge. But I don't think Vanilla is a real name, probably."

She shrugged. "Then I'll be Villa. That's a name right?"

"Eh, close enough. So, Villa, can you tell me more about these images you have in your head? Maybe draw some for me?" Assault took out the pen he stole from the front counter and gave it to her along with the white napkins.

Villa made a face and grabbed the pen and napkin and start doodling across them.

"They're really weird shapes. Like… well like this." She turned the napkin back to him to show him. Assault was surprised he was able to understand what it was. It looked like a simple outline of a cell phone. "But then I see other shapes on top of it, one's like this." She began sketching other shapes out for him. These ones he didn't understand, but he recognized Tinker notes when he saw them.

"Can you tell me what they do? What you think they'll do?"

"Well," Villa began, quirking her mouth to the side as she thought. "I think they're supposed to be one thing. That this shape can turn into that shape, and then back again."

"Hmm," Assault said thoughtfully.

'A Tinker that specialized in making two things one? The first thing she drew was a cell phone, not exactly high tech which doesn't fit into the normal Tinker abilities. Unless the tech was in the transformation between the two. In that case-'

Assault stopped himself. Here was a little girl, just triggered, no family, no memory, and with one of the most valued power sets. She wasn't ready for all of this, not yet anyway. Assault drew a deep breath and offered her a smile.

"Still got room for more ice cream?" He asked.

Villa grinned at him. "There is always room for ice cream, silly."

"Good, because you got to taste their rainbow sherbert…"

A/N Before anyone asks, Villa has no connection to Pinkie Pie


	19. Chapter 19

From where I was flying I could see Armsmaster riding on his motorcycle through the city streets, half a dozen PRT officers following him on foot as his motorcycle crawled along. Looking the other way, I saw Triumph leading his own team of PRT officers, each one equipped with a foam sprayer. The plan was simple, they would use their manpower to scope out the area while I kept an eye on things from up above. He had given Cheshire a radio in case we saw anything and needed assistance.

Flying a little lower, I let my magic spread out to get a better sense of the area. I could feel people inside of the mix of apartments and factories. Most were small families, huddled in spaces too small for them. Others were single people, lying still enough I might have thought they were dead if I didn't know what time of night it was.

I found them the moment I felt Cheshire pulling on my mane to get my attention. It was a factory and on the inside, there were bodies everywhere. A lot of them weren't moving, but that wasn't to say there wasn't any.

Landing outside of the loading bays, I used my telekinesis to wrench the doors open as Panacea and Cheshire slid off my back. The inside looked like a war zone.

Besides the massive amount of bullets scattered absolutely everywhere, a large explosion had taken place in the middle of the room. It left a rather large crater and had caused the floor above it to cave in around it. There were bodies on the ground, the most intact ones belonging to Merchants. Doctors and Workers… they clearly didn't get the same treatment.

"Oh my god," Panacea said under her breath as she knelt down to check one of the people. "What the hell happened?"

"Mush," Cheshire said grimly, stalking around the explosion site. "They spent the fight feeding his body military grade explosives, which is why a lot of them look like this." She gestured with a hand at them. "Then they set them all off at once, Mush himself taking most of the explosion from the inside moving outward."

"Then where's his body?" I asked.

Cheshire shrugged. "Where isn't it?"

"That was disgusting," Panacea noted.

"Come on," I said, grabbing them each with my telekinesis. "Let's keep looking." I kicked off the ground and gave a quick flap to get to the second floor through the hole in the ceiling. The people I felt moving would be up there.

I took us down a hallway and started letting my magic expand outward again. This time I got an even closer look at the people moving, though there was less now. A room had collapsed in on itself when the floor above it had caved in for whatever reason. I could feel more bodies on the top floor with my magic so I guessed someone had used explosives up there to cause it. I guessed the Merchants because the Workers seemed too… organized to use an explosive on the top floor of a building that was already abandoned.

I suddenly felt a person enter the room that wasn't there before, someone who managed to not be affected by my magic projection. They knelt down and took out something thin and metal. A knife.

At that moment I realized it I recognized the costume she wore. It was the Crossbow vigilante. The person that had been squirming against the rubble on top of him suddenly stopped moving. I broke into a run.

She must have heard my hoofs against the floor because she whirled around and fired an arrow at me the moment I rounded the corner into the room. I grabbed it and threw it back violently, causing her to duck the other way to avoid it.

Suddenly she froze, unable to move as my telekinesis wrapped around her. I took the moment to look around the room. It was a large place, something I could see being a living room of a staff lounge of some sort. And there were clearly a few people in here due to how most of them were dead. The man Crossbow had been leaning over had his legs crushed under the rubble and his throat slashed. There was one more still alive, a metal bar through his shoulder. Panacea was looking over him already.

I turned to Cheshire who made a face and grabbed the radio Armsmaster had given her before saying,

"I'll go let him know." I gave her a curt nod and turned back to the Crossbow vigilante.

"Why?" I demanded, putting a hoof down hard against the ground. I rotated her in the air so she faced me.

"Because it was the kind thing to do," she said acidly.

"What?" I asked incredulously, not quite believing what I just heard her say.

"He was weak, and he was suffering. He had already lost too much blood and there was no way in hell to get him to a hospital. He was going to die there suffering, I helped him with that.

"By killing him," I said bluntly.

"Like I said," she responded sourly. "I was doing him a favour."

"Well forgive me if I don't mark you as the kindest person in the book," I responded sourly. At that moment Cheshire came back into the room, idly holding the radio in her hand.

"Armsmaster is on his way. Miss Militia and the others found the other fight. Skidmark was the only one killed in the action, Squealer was hiding in the basement and they have her now. Making Whirlygig the only one unaccounted for, and I doubt they kicked up any fuss for her." Cheshire glanced at Crossbow and asked, "Are you going to be able to hold her until Armsmaster gets here?"

"I'll be fine," I responded. "I don't know about her though."

"What's your problem," she asked sourly. "He was a Merchant, no one cares about him. What I did was probably the kindest thing that could have been done for a guy like him."

"The problem is," I said with a forced calm, "that you don't go around killing people!"

She fell silent at that, causing me to shake my head at her again and turn back to Cheshire. She thought for a few moments before deciding to walk up to Crossbow and start walking pensive circles around her.

"What do you know about The Workers?" She asked.

"I know they're a pain in the ass," Crossbow responded.

"Noted. But have you found out anything about them? A lead we can work off of?"

"Nothing I would tell you."

"Ah, you know one of their bases. That's good. Is it in The Docks?"

"Fuck yo-"

"Yes, alright. So it's a warehouse of some kind right?"

"I'm not-"

"Yes, it is. Good. Hey, Nova?"

"Yes?" I responded. Cheshire's grin widened as she said,

"Hit her with the healing spell."

"Why?" I asked as a confused look passed over my face. Not that I wouldn't, but I wasn't exactly high on magic at the moment and I'd rather not exhaust my reserves.

"Because Shadow Stalker here really likes her ability to swear."

Shadow Stalker? Not the name I would have chosen, but if it is swearing she likes… a smile spread across my face as I charged up the spell.

I hit her with it right as Armsmaster walked into the room.

"What's going on here?" He demanded.

"We caught the Crossbow vigilante after she killed a man," I answered him, floating her over to him. Armsmaster's lips pressed into a thin line before retrieving a pair of Tinker made handcuffs from his suit. Reaching his hands into my telekinesis, he grabbed Shadow Stalker's arms and pulled them behind her. He pressed the bits of metal that made the handcuffs into her wrists and metal extended outward from them, securing her wrists together.

I dropped the telekinesis once I thought he had her, but the moment her feet touched the ground she kicked off and attempted to get through the doorway. Cheshire stepped in her way at the last moment and punched her across the face.

Shadow Stalker hit the floor hard, her mask barely hanging on. I caught a glimpse of dark skin underneath before she rolled over, pressing her face to the floor to keep the mask from sliding off.

"Huh," Cheshire said, looking at her fist. "That felt great. Oh, and she has a fractured jaw now."

"Are you sure she killed him?" Armsmaster asked like that event didn't just occur. Cheshire nodded.

"Yep, she cut his throat with the knife that's in her belt. That's should give you everything you need. Now, did you find any more of The Doctors and Workers?"

"No," Armsmaster answered with a shake of his head. "They took some losses, but they got out as soon as possible. But without many of their capes, The Merchants are likely going to fall apart in the next couple of days."

"Not exactly reassuring," I said bitterly. Armsmaster frowned and paused for a moment.

"No," he conceded. "But it is the only thing we have gotten out of this whole crime spree these gangs seem to be part of. Until the Director hears back from the Think Tank it is likely the only thing we'll get.

"Now," Armsmaster continued as he picked Shadow Stalker off the floor, holding her mask in place for her. "I'll be taking her back to the Protectorate building. I suggest you go home for the night."

He left the room, pushing Shadow Stalker in front of him. Panacea and Cheshire walked up to me, standing on either side of me. When he was gone I looked at Cheshire and open my mouth but she silenced me with a shake of her head.

"I want to help you go after them," Cheshire said, "Believe me, I do. But it took the whole day just to get this lead and I don't think it's likely they planned two events on the same night. If we go back out, we'll only waste our time."

"Plus," Panacea said, inserting herself into the conversation. "As fun as it was coming with you guy, which it surprisingly was, I really need to get home. It's already pretty late."

I looked between the two for a moment before hanging my head with a sigh. They were right, there was only so much we could do. I want to get Rune's killer, and if it were just me I go all night. But it is not just me, it's my friends too. And my dad is probably worried as well.

I knelt down on all four legs and said, "Alright you two, climb on. Let's go home."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Important: All chapters from fifteen and onward have been replaced with re-writes, events are different and context has been changed.**

Sophia wasn't here today, which was nice to see. And after the thorough tongue lashing Lisa had given the other girls last time, none of them seem to be willing to approach us when we were together. But we weren't always side by side, making the trip between classes something of a game of hide and seek as I attempted to avoid Emma and Madison.

I managed to make it third period without much happening to me. The occasional insult, the odd remark, and some ugly notes left behind on my desk. Hardly anything worth caring about, but it was the fact that it was happening at all bothered me.

I shuffled into Mr. Germino's European history class, my last class before lunch. He was by far my favourite teacher here, he was laid back but didn't really care about who was popular and who wasn't like some teachers I had seen. He was a fan of giving lectures, and to him, you're either listening or not. And if you're not then you were disrupting the class. No student was an exception, which was nice as I happened to share this class with Madison and Greg.

Today Mr. Germino was sitting in his chair looking over the rims of his glasses at a computer screen. The telltale sign that he was skipping the lecture in favour of a video he found online. Taking my seat in the far corner of the room, I tried my best to look unassuming as I could with silvery purple hair. It had only been two days since I had come to school like this and I was still getting stares, but so were a few other girls that had adopted the style. I had made it without interruption when Greg entered the room.

I vaguely recall noting some changes in him before I had left school for a little bit of time, but they had happened so slowly that I hadn't even paid too much attention to them. He recalled he had lost some of his pudginess and got rid of the God awful bob cut he had. But after spending two weeks away from school seeing him again really highlighted those changes.

He didn't just lose his pudge, he was almost skinny. And the only reason he wasn't was because of the amount of muscle he had packed on. It was just past the point of being toned, he was actually muscular. Closer to a quarterback than anything.

He sat down in the seat next to me with a silly grin.

"Hey Taylor," he said. "Nice hair."

Well, good to see not everything had changed.

Although, oddly enough he turned away and started getting out his school materials. Normally I'm treated to nonstop chatter that only ends when the teach ends it, which is never soon enough. I decide to count it as a blessing and not question it.

"Alright people," Gemino said, rising out of his chair. Instantly conversation in the room quieted as people hurried to finish their sentences before tapering off completely. "I don't feel like doing much today, and I know you don't feel like doing much. So today you're welcome to work on assignments from other classes as the rest of us watch the PRT's public statement released just an hour or so ago. If you are going to talk, only do so with your neighbor and keep it quiet."

Mr. Gemino walked over to the ancient projector and turned it on, the lens being so old that spots of light shone through places it had worn out and showed up like stars on the white screen he pointed it at. Getting a student to shut the lights off, he walked back over to his computer and started the video.

It was a dishonest review of everything that had happened, filled with euphemisms, carefully chosen words, and lots of things used to pull people's attention away from the slightly more daunting details. Honestly, it sounded really good, and if I hadn't been there I probably would have accepted this explanation. But I was there, and I was angry.

How often did they do this? Who isn't to say they didn't do it every time? I had been following the news the PRT put out all my life. That is fourteen going on fifteen years of deceit they could have pumped into me. This was how they handled grim situations? With misdirection and half truths? The thought that they have probably been doing this all my life and before left me feeling sick.

And then I felt something cold drop into my stomach when they announced a new Ward joining their team in spite of recent developments. Director Piggot herself introduced them all to Shadow Stalker, their newest Ward.

One day. Less than twelve hours after killing a person and they made her a Ward. They made a murderer a Ward.

And Rune took two weeks and never even got out of that cell.

The bell rang at that moment and I just sat there in stunned, angry silence, making sure my anger wasn't going to make me loose hold on my human form. Greg was one of the slower people to get up. Methodically, he packed his things away and slipped them into his backpack, then hesitated before leaving.

"Are… you going to lunch?" He asked cautiously. I gave a stiff nod. Once again, somewhat surprisingly, Greg accepted that answer with a nod and left. I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment and willed myself to calm down.

I grabbed my bag and worked my way out of the room, focusing on the floor and tuning out what was going on around me because I knew if I heard even one sly remark about me in any fashion it was going to take everything I could not lay into that person.

I wasn't anywhere near calm by the time I got to the cafeteria, but I did think I had managed to bring it down ever so slightly. The sight of Lisa already sitting at what had become our usual spot had given me a slightly cooler feeling. I worked my way through the lunch line, every single second I had to spend waiting for the person in front of me to move only made me that much more angry. I imagined myself going down to the PRT and yelling directly at Piggot. That would make me feel better, even if it would put me in a worse standing with them. Which quite honestly, I didn't care about anymore. The PRT was useless and apparently being associated with racists was worse than murder.

I got my lunch and the little tray that came with it. I hadn't had time to pack my lunch this morning because of last night's exploits. I was walking towards Lisa with it in hand when Emma stepped in my way.

"Why you look so angry, Taylor?" Emma asked in her sickly sweet voice. "Upset you spilt your lunch?" As soon as she said it, her hand came up and smack the tray upwards in my hands, causing the food to go all over my clothing.

I snapped, just like her jaw when I punched her in the face as hard as I possibly could.

I'm reminded of the time all those inspirational speakers and other overly optimistic adults say that revenge doesn't feel as good as you think, or that hurting people that hurt you wasn't going to make you feel better. And then I'm reminded that those people are liars.

Punching Emma in the face felt fantastic and immediately afterwards I felt a rush of adrenaline flood my system and my blood started roaring in my ears. I didn't even care as the other girls started screaming that I was a psychopath and some sort of violent person or whatever it was, because at this moment I had done what I had wanted to do for a while now.

Emma was struggling to get up off the floor and Lisa was almost by my side when I felt a teacher grab me by my upper arm and start dragging me out of the cafeteria. I didn't look to see who it was, I didn't care. I did know that Lisa was right behind me though. A vulpine grin on her face.

I was marched right into the office and sat down in the waiting area. They tried to stop Lisa from coming with me, but a few pointed words later she was sitting across from me with a sly grin.

I wanted to ask her why she was smiling, but they had the vice principal standing in the room to keep us from speaking with each other. Over the next thirty minutes girls were brought in one by one to tell Principal Blackwell their version of the story. The time gave me the relief I needed to cool off from the events. I had to avoid thinking about Shadow Stalker because every single time I did another spike of anger shot through me.

Finally, I was told to get up and go into her office, the vice principal right behind me. The woman looked at me coldly and said,

"Sit."

I did so, not really caring at this point.

"So Miss Hebert, would you like to explain to me why I have a dozen girls saying you punched Emma Barnes in the face completely out of the blue?"

"Emma attacked me," I said lamely. I didn't expect her to believe it so I wasn't going to put the effort into it to try and make her think otherwise.

"Miss Hebert, we've been through this before. You only dig yourself a deeper hole by lying to me. Every girl that had just been in here said the same thing, that you attacked Emma not the other way around. You are seriously going to suggest that all of those girls were lying and that you are the only one telling the truth?"

"Yes, she is." Lisa declared marching into the room.

"Excuse me," Blackwell said, rising from her seat. "I don't believe I called you in her-"

"And you weren't going to," Lisa interrupted her. "Because I would confirm her story and then you would have to take that into account and you don't want to."

Blackwell frowned. "Listen here young lady I haven't seen you in this office before and this is not a good way to start. Now turn around and get back to class before I suspend you."

"Then suspend me," Lisa said with a shrug. "I'll use the time more productively. But what you won't do is punish Taylor."

"And why is that?" Blackwell asked acidly.

"Because all the other girls are lying on Emma's behalf," Lisa said simply.

"You expect me to-"

"Yes," Lisa cut her off. "Because I recorded it." Lisa held up a phone, a large picture of me and Emma standing across from each other with a large play button right in the centre.

"Let me see," Blackwell demanded, holding out her hand. Lisa raised an eyebrow at her.

"So you can confiscate it and delete the video? Yeah, right. But you can watch." Lisa hit the play button and thirty seconds of footage played showing the incident exactly how it played out. Blackwell sank back into her seat and laced her fingers together tightly.

"I see," Blackwell said through an obviously forced calm. "In that case, I'll be handing out detentions to all of those involved. While you Miss Hebert will be s-"

"Going to classes like normal or I take this to the media," Lisa said with a grin. Blackwell narrowed her eyes at her.

"This is hardly a newsworthy story."

"Not yet," Lisa corrected her. "But if you punish the victim harsher than the bullies, who have in fact bullied her before and you've done nothing, then that would be newsworthy. And if Emma's father or anyone else pushes a lawsuit, then I'm sure it will get even more publicity when it comes out the an up and coming model is allowed to bully other students."

Blackwell's hand shook as she squeezed them together tightly. She closed her eyes and thought a moment. I felt a smile spread across my face as she realized there would be no easy choice here. Once again, Lisa to the rescue.

"Two weeks detention for everyone, including you two." Blackwell finally said, with a defeated sigh. "And Emma gets a mark on her permanent recorded."

"That'll do," Lisa said with a smile.


	21. Chapter 21: Villain Interlude

"He is in there?" Lung asked with a grunt. The two ABB members nodded silently, more out of fear than anything. They were standing outside of an old farm house just off highway exit on the way to New York state. It obviously had been abandoned a long time ago, with all the glass broken and wooden boards fallen into a state of decay. But even when the land around it had all been purchased, someone had still been making payments on the house. The person using it wasn't a secret, far from it. It was just generally better to leave him alone.

But they were up against a different sort of enemy if recent days were anything to go by. It was time for Lung to risk it. And Supesu wasn't that hostile, for the most part.

Lung walked up the garage door where a light could be seen underneath the old door that couldn't close properly. He raised a fist to knock on it but paused.

"Get back in the car." Lung told the other men. "I'll be quick as possible." The ABB members didn't need to be told twice, all but running back to their car. With that done, Lung knocked on the garage door.

Instantly he was met with furious, high pitched laughter before for a squeaky, breathless voice called out to him saying,

"Come in, come in, hehe. Supesu so rarely gets visitors."

Lung only hesitated for a moment before reaching down and grabbing the edge of the garage door and pulling it open with a loud screeching noise.

Inside, Supesu was perched on a chair watching cartoons and eating a bowl of fruity cereal, laughing as the characters were bent out of shape as cartoons do.

Supesu was the more humanoid of the Case 53s, maintaining a humanoid form in a broad sense of the word. His arms and legs were anywhere from three to four feet long as well as equal in length to each other. His skin was clinging to him like he had long since starved, with his ribs sticking out like a cliff face over the area where his stomach would be. He didn't wear any clothing except for the white scarf around his neck, which allowed Lung to see he didn't have any genitalia of any sort. And given how high pitched his voice could be, Lung wasn't quite sure he was a male at all.

Supesu slowly turned his head to look at Lung, showing him the permanent smile that was almost too large for his face as the skin peeled back his lips so tightly it revealed every last tooth in his mouth. His eyes were slitted, like a snake's, and were partially hidden behind black hair that covered them.

"Supesu is visited by the dragon. Supesu is honored." As he said it, Supesu set the bowl of cereal down and started to lean backwards out of the chair, his back bending in an unnatural manner. As his hands touched the floor the rest of his body came with him, putting him in a spider like position on the floor as his knees bent backward so every limb was pointed away from his body.

"What brings the dragon to Supesu?" He asked. Lung felt a chill go down his spine as he realized the creature was speaking perfectly without touching his lips together.

"I've come to recruit you," Lung said as strongly as he could.

"Recruit Supesu? Why, The Workers must be giving you trouble. Indeed, indeed."

"How do you know of-"

"The Workers?" It asked, tilting its head oddly. "Supesu has television, you know."

"Then you will know that they-"

"Are dangerous, yes. Supesu knows. Supesu has seen. Supesu knows Workers better than Asian dragon thinks. But Supesu is content in house. Supesu has food, has cartoon. Life couldn't be better for Supesu.

"But Supesu wants more," It suddenly said, turning completely around and scurrying to its work bench. "You can give Supesu more?"

Lung swallowed. "More what?"

"More Supesu! Space!" The creature pulled a tiny rock from its work bench and tossed it on the ground, it glowed purple for a moment before creating a light blue bubble the size of a basket ball. Supesu released a giggle as a bubble was filled with bright blue flames.

"Supesu made this bubble special, so collective kinetic energy of a gas molecule's lifetime it shortened to one moment. That is my supesu, my space. Supesu makes rule for supesu, and supesu deliver for Supesu."

"You wish to use your power more," Lung realized.

"Yes, yes," the creature hissed in delight. "Supesu not dumb. Supesu knows if he steals more than he steals now he will have to fight other shiny capes. Supesu wants to help dirty capes, they protect Supesu so Supesu can make bigger supesu."

"I can do that for you," Lung said. "And I can promise that my men will treat you with kindness and respect."

"Kindness? Oh no no. Only one person has ever shown me kindness, she give Supesu scarf see?" It lifted the scarf for Lung to look at. "Thought Supesu was homeless, gave to Supesu to keep warm for winter." It paused as if stuck in reflection. "She was first person to ever die in supesu."

* * *

"I still don't understand why we can't send men to take the ripe territory," Whirlygig said sourly. Scribe sighed and pushed his glasses up on his nose.

 _Whirlygig_. Scribe's power told him. _Not as charismatic as Skidmark, but smarter. Always thought she could do a better job than him. Hated his style. Hated his smell. Lots of resentment, little respect. Was closer to Mush, is in the first stage of loss. Not because of close bond, but because he was her only bond. She's ambitious, wants to take Merchants to higher level._

' _Well_ ', Scribe thought as if his power could speak back to him. _'Can't have that now can we?'_

"It is like I said," Scribe explained again. "Right now The Empire and ABB are fighting each other, if we attempt to expand it only gives them an enemy to unite against. We should instead use the chaos to place more dealers deeper in their territory."

"What about The Doctor territory then?" Whirlygig snarled. "Those fuckers attacked us, are we supposed to take that lying down?"

"Need I remind you that The Doctors didn't come to take our territory or steal or drug supplies, they were targeting our capes. Trying to fight them is the reason Mush has died." Whirlygig winced and gripped the edges of Skidmark's old desk with her hands until her knuckles turned white.

"And who the hell are you to tell me what I can and can't do?" She hissed. Scribe shrugged, this wasn't an uncommon reaction towards him. He got it with Skidmark, and he got it with the man before him, and he'll get from whoever comes after Whirlygig.

"As I said," Scribe answered, "I am an accountant of sorts, I do the management around here. And I also council the leader of The Merchants, something Skidmark did not make good use of and ended up dead. I trust you can be smarter than him?"

"I don't need your fucking advice! I'm the one that is in charge shitstain, you fucking listen to me!"

"Whirlygig," Scribe said firmly, crossing his arms. "I'm about to say something and I suggest you listen because it is the most important lesson I can give you about running The Merchants.

"In our peak season, we can have upwards of five hundred dealers on the streets in every corner of the city. Given that, exactly how many of these drug dealers do you trust to give you your fair share based on honour?"

"Fuck all," Whirlygig said with a frown.

"Precisely," Scribe said with a nod. "That's where I come in. You see, I keep track of all our dealers and make sure they give their share, I keep track of our suppliers and make sure the right paycheck ends up in the right pocket, I keep track of the inventory to make sure no one is stealing product, I make sure no other drug rings crop up in our city, and most important of all, I advise our leader on how best to maintain the gang."

"If you're so buttfucking important how come I ain't never seen you?" She asked accusingly. Scribe nodded understandingly.

"Because if people knew I signed the paychecks, so to speak, whose authority does it undermine?"

"Under mine?"

"You look like less of a leader if people realize I'm the one keeping the books." Scribe corrected without even thinking about it. "You don't want them coming to me when they have an issue, do you?"

"No."

"Good, now as I was saying. Skidmark never liked listening to me-"

 _'Then again, I make sure no Merchant likes listening to me.'_

"- but the thing he had the most trouble grasping was that we want to be small. We want to be insignificant enough to be ignored most of the time. Because if we are perceived as a threat, we will be treated as a threat."

 _'Which is exactly why we were a threat._ ' He would have added that last part, if he thought her addled mind could have handled the concept. Instead, he let her work it out on her own. She frowned and thought about it for a moment.

"That sounds fucking stupid." She concluded. "I want to give those brotherfuckers a bloody fuckin' nose. We're going to take some of The Doctor's territory."

Scribe sighed and conceded to her. "If that is what you want, I'll pull some people together for you. Meet them downstairs in say, two hours?"

"Yeah, whatever." She said with a wave.

"One more thing," Scribe said, he pulled out a half sheet of paper from his pocket and slid it across the desk to her. "A speech," he said. "Feel free to… colour it with words of your choosing, but it should do the trick in making the others feel better about your leadership."

WIth that, Scribe turned on his heels and walked out of the 'office' Skidmark had made for himself. Whirlygig wasn't a great fit, but neither was Skidmark. That can be remedied, Scribe decided.

He pulled out a cell phone and dialed it as he worked his way towards a secluded portion of the building so he could remove his costume. After dialing the number, he got an answer on the second ring.

"Yeah, boss?" Jacobson said on the other end of the line.

"Get a team together," Scribe said. "Whirlygig wants to make a strike into Doctor territory. Make sure things fall apart."

"Just like with Skidmark? Isn't it a little soon, boss?"

"It's better that she learns this lesson sooner rather than later, see to it. You have less than two hours to get prepared."

"Understood boss." Scribe flicked the phone shut and double checked to make sure he was alone before removing the mask that covered the lower half of his face, took off the black haired wig to release his curly red hair, and exchanged his wire frame glasses for pair with thicker rims.

Tom Monta exited the old factory warehouse and proceeded to walk two blocks to his car. None of the roaming Merchants bothered him.

Climbing into his car he found a stainless steel suitcase sitting in the passenger seat. Tom had a guess as to what it was, which was confirmed when he read the note sitting on top of it.

 _Payment has gone through. Six vials, as requested. -C_

"Good, good," Tom muttered to himself before starting his car.

Tom had always considered that among The Merchants, he had the greatest superpower of all. He didn't do drugs. It kept his mind sharp among a sea of violent, unstable, addicted, dirty, savage, morons. It also allowed him to make sure money was always flowing directly to him.

What most people didn't realize was that as gangs age they begin to operate more and more like a business. A brand new gang might be able to get away with some disorganization, but it never lasts. Eventually, someone needs to start keeping the books. In his research, Tom found that the all human gang in Chicago had actual books, stacks of composition journals where they recorded every single transaction as a long mind numbing string of numbers. Tom was a little more proficient than that.

The Merchants, in particular, had posed an interesting dynamic to him when he first found them. Drug dealers working together? Not unheard of, but it never lasts. When nearly everyone included in the gang is on mind altering substances the level of in fighting and sheer amount of insubordination would tear apart a gang like that before it even got thirty members strong.

But put in someone with large amounts of charisma, maintain control of the drug supply, and make sure they were always coming back to you for their fix, and then a person could build a proper gang. Or as proper as The Merchants got.

Arriving at his home, a large two-story house that was far too much for a single man, Tom pulled the car to a stop and sat there silently for a moment as he considered things. Pulling the case into his lap, he opened it up and peered inside.

Six vials, three green, three red. He considered them for a time, thinking of the candidates he had previously selected for them. He used his power on them each day, only one showed any sign of significant change that might be harmful to him. The others though, they were ready.

 _'But will they just be another Skidmark and Mush when these Doctors come knocking again?'_

The Doctors were not like the other villains in the city. They didn't care that they were a non-threat. They didn't even care about the drugs. All they cared about was killing their capes. For what purpose, Tom didn't know. And he hated not knowing.

Pulling out a cellphone, he redialed a number that had called him once before. It took four rings before it was picked up.

"Hello Coil," Scribe began, "I would like to discuss that offer you gave me the other day…"

* * *

Sophia flopped on the bed she was provided in her cell. She was allowed a cell phone now, benefits of being a Ward. Or at least, on her way to being one. She didn't really understand what exactly had happened. There was no interrogation, no courts, no one pressing charges, she didn't even spend that long in handcuffs. One minute she is sitting silently in an interrogation, thinking what she could say to soften the blow against her when Director Piggot came in and placed a packet of papers in front of her.

'I don't like you,' Piggot had said. 'And I know a lot of other people don't like you. And legally, we could bury you. But someone doesn't want that, so here is the deal.' At that point, Piggot had thrown a pen on top of the papers. 'You sign everything in there, you make our rules your bible, you attend counseling twice a week, you don't leave this building for at least a year, you get excellent grades in our provided schooling, and you don't so much as leave a dot out of any paperwork you file for the rest of your career and your crimes will disappear and against my wishes you become a Ward. Do not say anything, don't even move your head. Either grab the pen and start signing to show you understand and accept or don't. Your head.' And that had been it. She signed each paper, barely glancing at most of them until she realized she was in no uncertain terms signing some of her human rights away. Even then, it had been too late. She was already halfway to hell.

She shook her head and turned her mind back to Emma, the phone call being one of the few things she was allowed. And even then it was heavily monitored and listened to.

"... and then she fucking punched me!" Emma said.

"Huh," Sophia said out of genuine curiosity. "Hebert finally fought back. Good."

"Good?!"

"Yes," Sophia said simply. "That was what we were doing it for, wasn't it? She would either learn her lesson like you did and fight back and become a predator. Or she was always going to let herself get pushed around and walked over, staying prey. We've made her better."

She knew she was pushing it, dancing on the edge of what would have been an acceptable conversation. But without blatantly stating what they had done on top of the guarantee that her crimes were gone she was fairly sure this would pass so long as Emma kept her head on.

"So… What are we going to do?"

"Lay off," Sophia said simply. "See if she'll stay that way, or if she'll go back to being prey again."

"I don't- Shit, my dad is calling me. I got to go."

"Bye," Sophia said with a bored tone before hanging up. She held the phone in front of her blankly, idly playing with it.

"Hebert, huh?" She said to herself. She had been forced to lay off when that blonde girl, Lisa, not-so-subtly blackmailed her. Suddenly Sophia frowned. Lisa had known things, things she shouldn't have been able to know about everyone. Just like that blonde girl with Nova had known her chosen cape name. They even sounded similar.

But if they were the same person then…

Sophia smirked.

"Well, it looks like my kindness was the best thing for you, Taylor."

"Coil," a woman's voice stated. Upon hearing the familiar and daunting voice on the other end of the line, Coil leaned back in his office chair and suppressed a sigh.

"What can I do for you?" He asked.

"We require your pet team of teenagers are allowed to become heroes."

"And how do you propose that I do that?" Coil asked, a little annoyance creeping into his voice. He would have asked why, but the question has never got him anywhere before. Even still, perhaps he should have made a timeline for it just to check.

"Simply allow them to be arrested, we'll handle the rest."

"Surely I can be allowed to keep Ergo and his-"

"No, you can get Thinkers elsewhere. Ergo must go too." The was a click on the other end, signaling the end of the conversation. Coil let out a frustrated sigh and pulled up to his computer before opening an email.

 _Ergo,_ Coil wrote _, forgot your search for Miss Lindt, I have a new assignment for you. Tell Regent and Biohazard you're coming back and meeting a new team member I have been grooming, a cape by the name of Grue. -C_

Coil leaned back in his chair and considered things for a long time. When a message was sent back, Coil split the world in two and typed two different replies.

A/N: Supesu is a case 53 with the ability to charge inorganic objects by sticking them in his mouth. While in his mouth, Supesu decides what rule the 'space' will have. There are two limitations. 1) The event horizons of these spaces must be traversable by anything more complex than a bug and 2) While the rules he is able to set are very flexible, space will fail to deploy if the rule causes the immediate death of people and animals inside of it. For instance, the fire Space you saw him make would fail if he deployed it on a human because it was his rule that summoned the fire. But if he were to simply make a space where oxygen can neither leave nor enter, people inside would suffocate. The longer Supesu spends charging something the larger space will get, giving him the potential to be an S class threat and hit an entire city with one space. But his broken mind would never do it, which is why he is why Cauldron allowed him to be free. So far he has caused three people to trigger, only killing one person as there is nothing less funny than a corpse.

Scribe has two powers. His first gives him an accurate measure of a person's personality, goals, and general level of intelligence. His second make him able to handle numbers and micro manage incredibly well. As he is neither charismatic, willing to do drugs, and looks very nerdy in appearance, he puts others in charge of The Merchants and manipulates them accordingly. Because of his appearance and mannerisms, he receives no respect from The Merchants. He is fine with this as it makes them feel superior and lets him manipulate them better. As drugs are a very lucrative business, Scribe makes a lot of money while keeping the rest of The Merchants reasonably poor. Knowing that their drug addled minds will neither look nor comprehend the books, he can get away with a lot.

Ergo is a Thinker meant to replace Lisa in Coil's plan. He understands how things work, intuitively. Including a limited view into basic Tinker tech principles. He often tricks people into thinking he is a Tinker by combining all the Tinker 0-1 principles he's learned into one suit to make him seem closer to a Tinker 3 or 4.

Biohazard is a bio tinker limited to self-enhancement. Her body augments do not work with other people.


	22. Chapter 22

"Are you sure you don't want to head back home for a bit?" I asked Panacea. She fiddled with the edges of her robes nervously. Cheshire was still getting ready and my Dad was at work so it was just the two of us waiting in our living room.

"I would rather not head back just yet," she said nervously. I tucked my forelegs under me so I could kneel down and talk to her eye to eye. I wasn't that much taller than her, but kneeling would make it easier for her to climb onto my back when it's time to leave.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked.

"Not… really."

"Come on," I nudged her with my muzzle, an attack I found rather odd but fitting. "I won't say anything, just listen. I promise, it'll make you feel better."

Panacea hung her head and fell silent for a moment before speaking.

"I… I don't know who my real father is, but I know it isn't good. He was a criminal of some sort, the kind Carol wouldn't ever talk about. And she thinks I'm going to be like him, I know she does. I fear I might be like him, whatever he was like. So I worked at the hospital. I thought that I could balance it by spending my life healing people. But then you came, told me I was destroying myself and made me stop. Now things have gotten better for me, but when I came home late last night Carol demanded to know where I was. And then she didn't believe what I had told her, followed by her scolding me for improving Cheshire like I did because of the implications. And I just… I couldn't. I couldn't stand her looking at me like I was just a step away from killing someone."

I could tell a knot was forming in her throat as she spoke. Her voice had begun to waver as she tried to force out what had happened. I knew the feeling, that if she stopped talking the knot in her throat would feel like it was blocking her air way.

"I'm sorry," I said, leaning my head against her. She hesitated a moment before wrapping her arms around my neck. She hugged me for a minute before Cheshire came back into the room with a grin on her face. She announced her presence with a clap and said,

"Alright, who's ready to hunt down some terrorists?"

There were still lots of gang fighting, but it was cooling down. The Empire took back most of its territory, the ABB was fighting them tooth and nail for it, The Four was busy defending the little bit they took for themselves while The Workers fought Coil's mercenaries back and forth over the same area of land. But even with all that going on, most of the fighting had taken a significant dip since yesterday. The PRT statement has caused a lot of wary eyes to turn towards The Four. Specifically, The Workers and Doctors. There hasn't been a cape battle since Hookwolf, but it was only a matter of time.

More disturbingly, Lung was silent. Oni Lee had appeared on the scene once or twice but quickly disappeared without Lung to back him up. On his own, Oni Lee could do little to stop the Empire which is what he had been focusing on. But the only reason why Lung wouldn't have shown up, and the conclusion Cheshire came to, would be that he wasn't in town. We didn't know what that meant, but it couldn't be good.

But while Lung was disturbing, the return of The Merchants was worrying. Everyone assumed with most of their capes wiped out they would disappear, but they did nothing of the sort. Instead, they doubled down in their territory and were holding out fairly well. It was a level of intelligence the city hasn't seen from The Merchants. Very, very, worrying.

"Over there," Cheshire said in my ear, reaching forward to point at a warehouse down below us. With a nodded I tucked my wings together and went into a shallow dive, causing Panacea to yelp and lean forward on my back. Probably to get a better grip on Cheshire. The shifting weight threw me off a bit, but I managed to correct for it before anything drastic happened.

"Land on the building over there," Chesire said, pointing across the street from the warehouse. Obeying her instructions, I banked to the right and slowly came to a stop. The building was a single story taller than the warehouse she had pointed out, allowing me to look over the edge at it.

The warehouse didn't have a single person going in or out, in fact, the whole area was dead in terms of foot traffic. Which was odd as even the most out of the way and decrepit places at least had a few people using the buildings for shelter.

"Are you sure this is the place?" I asked as she and Panacea climbed off me.

"Yes," Cheshire said. "They dug tunnels from one basement to another between these buildings. They enter somewhere around here and head to the warehouse. Would normally keep people from telling where they are headed and where they're base normally is. But Shadow Stalker, well, stalked them with her power."

"So how are we going to do this?" Panacea asked. I nodded in agreement and looked at Cheshire.

"Well…" She said, faking a nervous tone. "I'll tell you, but you're not going to like it."

 _"Simple,"_ Lisa had said _, "If the members only know who is directly in charge of them, who's to say I'm not supposed to be there?"_

Lisa, of course, knew the answer was whoever was in charge of the place, but she was certain she could avoid them. So, after changing into civilian gear and Nova liberating some gang colours from a nearby ganger, Lisa found herself crawling through the tunnels right into The Worker's base of operations.

 _'It's fine,'_ Lisa told herself despite the flutter in her chest _. 'I have low-level Brute powers, I just have to hold on until Nova can come crashing through the roof.'_

She emerged out of the tunnel to find herself in a small room, barely large enough to be a prison cell. Directly across from her was a gated metal fence with no lock on it covering the entrance to a single ladder leading up into the warehouse. Two guards were standing on either side of it with assault rifles in hand.

 _Watching for Master protocol message._ Lisa's power spoke _. Three steps forward, reach down and pull up sock, then nod to Worker on left. Fence is electrically charged and will only shut off when hidden button behind the right Worker's foot._

Lisa followed the instructions to the letter and as expected, the metal cage didn't shock her when she opened it. She continued on through and climb up the ladder hastily.

Coming out into the open area she found herself in a sea of bustling Workers. In the far corner, there were rows of bunk beds suggesting that some of them lived here. While the corner directly opposite had tables set up where Workers were eating and conversing.

Turning slowly to observe the warehouse in a close attention to detail as she could while moving her gaze from one end to the other. The walls were lined with lockers, a few left open to reveal identical sets of gear. Gas, handguns, grenades, various other things.

On the other end of the room, Lisa could see a metal staircase leading up to what might have once been a foreman's office. It had large bay windows letting the person inside view the entire warehouse floor.

 _More lockers at the top of the stairs. Planned for Thinkers with the limitations of Think Tank. Most will assume there is a good reason they are unaware of if I climb the steps._

Well, she wasn't going to learn anything down here. She swallowed and started forward, her eyes darting back and forth to watch for any sign of any more Master/ Stranger protocols. While there wasn't any of that, lots of curious eyes were turned towards her.

 _Tightly knit community. Most everyone knows everyone else. All from the same city. Boston. Trained together._

Lisa resisted the urge to swear under her breath and hurried to the stairs. As soon as she put a hand on the railing her power fed her a bit of information that caused her to go into a slight panic.

 _Alarm. Scheduled time for entering and leaving office by anyone. Waiting for emergency contact signal._

Lisa hurried her pace up the steps, rounding the one corner in their structure before they turned toward the office space. When she reached the top she spun around and gave the signal as her power instructed. She clapped her hands twice and brushed imaginary hair away from her face.

"These guys really like unspoken means of communication," Lisa muttered to herself. The effect of her giving the signal was instant, people began springing into motion. Grabbing their gear and anything they were assigned to handle. Apparently, she gave a really specific signal because they all headed for the ladder and began descending down it one by one with military efficiency.

A little calmer now that almost all of her spectators were gone, Lisa darted for the office. Just outside of it to the right of the doorway into it were three lockers.

 _Guards on the inside, walls are thin enough to hear through. Lockers have false backs as a secondary escape route if front door is blocked._

Without wasting a second, Lisa wrenched open one of the locker doors and climbed inside. After checking to make sure she wasn't going to push the false back out, Lisa pressed her ear to it to listen inside.

"-is pushing for an alliance between all four of us new gangs." One man said.

"A bond between the four of us would be nice." A women answered him. "And haven't you noticed they operate sort of similar to us? If we got Industry's Brute nets and we gave them our Kinder gas we would work so much more efficiently."

"But," the man countered her. "They likely have capes."

They don't know they all work for the same group or person. Woman suspects, but is unwilling to say. Is dropping hits at man, who's in charge, to attempt to get information out of him on subject.

"We can take them out once we're done, so long as it furthers our cause we can compromise on our values a bit."

"Eh, maybe. But I still don't see what Max is looking for us to get out of this alliance. Haven't we proven we can take care of these villains on our own? We got Hookwolf didn't we?"

"And the Doctors got Krieg and Skidmark. Mush was more of a joined effort. And Clay isn't an idiot, he knows the more people the better. Small groups like us don't- Hey! What the hell is going on down there?"

 _Rushing to the window, almost everyone is gone now. Working out possible solutions._

"We've got an infiltrator." The man said seriously.

 _Striding for the doorway._

The man and woman threw the door open and walked out on the metal steps, feet clanking against it heavily. Several more footsteps followed behind them, body guards.

"Hello?" The man shouted out. "I would just like to say:

A̸̹̮̗̬͎̲̩̪̫̥̝͑̈́̓̀̀̈́̃̓̑̄͝ͅd̵̖͔̹́͑͒͘k̵̢̨͔̻̜̪̻̲͔̻͚̹̂̐̑̐͘ͅͅį̶̨̮̹̖̫̠͚͙́͆̎͂̏̐ͅn̷̘̼͉͍̗͈̩̼͎̭̻͓̭͎͔̋̑̊̆s̸̛̜͇̽ͅ ̵̹̄͌͋͊͌̈́̆̾̈́́͑̋̑̎S̸͓͋͜.̴̹͚͕̩̯̟͖̓̓̃̀̃̑̕ ̸̧̖̺̲͋̿̈́̐̒̐̾̿̊̿̇͠͝͠M̷̢̢̢̛̳̩̙͔̪̙̻͆͐̔͗͆̈́õ̴̧̯̞͍̞̺̲̖̗̳̲̘̾̍̈́͐̉͝ń̷̡̮͓̑ţ̷̳̱͎̤̮̖̜̖͙̣͇͓͋͋̈̒͐͛̏̚ģ̶̛̼͕͕̹͎̇̂̎̽̈́͆́̔̅̄͘õ̷͖͕͖̖͍̺̙̮̺̩͋̂̐̑̃̈́̇̚̚͠͝ͅm̸̩̙͊̐̐̓̓̽̓͝͝ĕ̸͉̘͚̳͕ŗ̷̡͇̪̦͎͕̪̝͔̻͠y̵͙̲̘̘̮͈̲̰̫͍̪̩̼͈̾̈̇̽̒́ͅ ̶̡̛̩̗̯͗͒̄͋̇̂͐̉̉́̀͋̚i̸͖̻̪̩͕̞̠̜͕͗̋̈́̚ͅs̶̡̨͇̦͓͙̜͕̥͋̾̔͂̓͜͜ ̴͓͚̥̪͕̯̫͔̲̫̞̈́̇̽̈͗́̾̑̈́̈́̓̓!̸̧̛̛̹̤͉̱̩̲̏̀́̉̋̈̈̔̀̐^̷̨̡̧̛̦͈̣̱̞̯̹͉̲̼̈́̃̃̅̏́̅͜͠#̸̦͈̼͚̳̥͆͗̊̕͝&̴̧̳͇̤̟̘͂͂͛̕͜͝$̵̢͍̩̗̯͔͔̓͗͝ ̶̪̼̄̑́̓̄̀̀̇^̴̨͉̯̤͍̲̤̭͔͓̰͉̱̞̩̍̐͒̅̂̇͒̈́͆̚͝͠*̷̧̡̻͈̥͎͎͉̘͔͓͚̈͘͜͜ͅ%̸̡̗̤͖̏̒̐̐̐͑̌̇̒͘͝!"

Lisa gasped as a headache suddenly stuck her and for the first time in years, her power didn't tell her anything.

"Hey!" The woman called out. "There's someone in the locker!" Lisa didn't have any time to react as her headache began to fade as quickly as it had come. The door was thrown open and she was dragged out by her wrist.

"Who are you," The man demanded. He was tall and lean, broad-shouldered but not quite barrel-chested. The woman was of similar build, but with red hair compared to his brown and ample cleavage.

"I'm a Worker," Lisa said as her power began to kick back in. "I saw the Master come in," she lied. "I ran up the stairs and hid in the locker so he wouldn't find me."

The man opened his mouth to ask something, but the woman hushed him with a hand and narrowed her eyes at Lisa.

"What's the passphrase?" Lisa swallowed and dropped the walls on her power.

 _The phrase is A̸̹̮̗̬͎̲̩̪̫̥̝͑̈́̓̀̀̈́̃̓̑̄͝ͅd̵̖͔̹́͑͒͘k̵̢͔̻̂̐̑̐͘-_

Lisa groaned and clutched her head as another headache ensued. The pair took a step back.

"She's a cape, shoot her!" The guy demanded. Lisa jumped to her feet and darted forward, her adrenalin kicking in the second she was in motion. Her power came back a moment later and she twirled around the gunfire of a nearby bodyguard.

She stepped on his foot and grabbed his arm with both hands, doing a quick dislocation of it before snatching his gun.

She felt something inside of her twitch, like some ethereal connection had just sent some data. She could reflect on that later, she had to find a way to signal Nova and not die right now.

Across the street, a particular pony lifted her head as she sensed her friend was in trouble.


	23. Chapter 23

As soon as I sensed Lisa was in trouble I spread my wings and jumped off the roof I was on, Panacea yelping in surprise as I did so. I flew towards the building and attempted to grab the entire roof with my magic. I pulled on it as hard as I could, my horn taking a bright over glow.

For a moment nothing happened. Then I heard the entire structure give a massive groan and I redoubled my efforts. A second glow enveloped the first, followed by a third glow as I continued to pull.

The ceiling came off with a massive screeching sound as I bent the metal and curled it up into a ball. I saw Lisa darting between some Workers, knocking them down as they looked up in awe at me as I flew towards them. I reached out with my magic and grabbed all of them that were stuck in the room before crushing their guns and pulling them into the air. They swallowed nervously as I held them several dozen feet above the ground.

"Tell me," I said as soon as they were as high in the air as me. "What do you know about Rune?"

Was it sad the news vans were here before the police? Since they weren't capes and I really didn't like the PRT right now, Cheshire called the normal human police to take care of them. She waited until the Workers were arrested and gone before revealing herself, just to make sure he identity didn't get spoiled by them.

I flew several feet above them with Panacea after the two of us agreed that we didn't want to answer questions without Cheshire there. Or at all for that matter, but I could see why we would want to.

When Cheshire did come out I flew down to meet her, landing by her side and following her as she strode towards the news crews. Panacea slid off my back and walked alongside us. The questions started flooding us before we even stopped moving.

"Nova, what exactly happened here?"

"Who is this other cape?"

"Why is Panacea here with you?"

"Is this an official partnership with New Wave?"

"What were The Worker's up to?"

Cheshire held up a hand to silence them. Once they had quieted down she offered them a smile.

"My name is Cheshire, and today we got confessions out of some The Worker's higher-ups," Cheshire said, beaming at the crowd. "We had someone sneak into their base and start gathering information. This will get confirmed by the police later, but The Worker's admitted to being involved in the deaths of Hookwolf, Krieg, and Rune. The last one occurring while Rune was in PRT custody. They also admit that The Workers are allied with The Doctors and were working on getting allied with the other two recent gangs."

"Is this the end of The Workers?" One female reporter asked.

"Doubtful," Cheshire said. "This was just one of their bases, probably one of their biggest. There is still a lot of work to do if we're going to clean this gang out."

"Do you honestly think you can end the gang when others have been unable to end the gang presence in this city?"

"Yes," Cheshire answered without hesitation. "Because these gangs made a mistake and now everyone is against them. There was some doubt before, but now we know that these people are responsible for recent events. Now they are going to facing pressure from both The Empire and the ABB and the PRT."

"Are they really that much of a threat that the other gangs might single them out?"

"Absolutely," Cheshire said with a nod. "Considering they are all part of a massive conspiracy."

The effect of that caused an instant wave of questions from the reporters. Cheshire waited for them to settle down enough for her to speak and be heard.

"These gangs," Cheshire announced. "Act like they are four separate gangs that happen to be working together, and in fact, most of their members think they are four different gangs. But they are being manipulated by one person. Someone who I believe is trying to execute all the villains in the city to get complete control. And I learned for a fact that these Workers are taking orders from a man named Max Clay. I if were to hazard to guess, I would be willing to say the other gangs probably know that name too."

"Are you saying that the four newest gangs in the city are part of one large conspiracy group with the intention of taking over the city?" One of the reporters asked.

"Yes," Cheshire said. "And Nova and I are going to take them apart just like we did today."

"I've got a question for Nova," one reporter said, turning the microphone to me. "Why have you been able to hit these gangs as hard as you have and what are you going to do if they bring in capes to fight you?"

I swallowed a little as I felt my throat go dry and my heartbeat began to pick up. I was on television, for the rest of the city to see. I didn't plan ahead for this, I thought Cheshire would handle it all. In retrospect, I should have expected this given how I was a larger symbol than her. I took a breath and a step forward, using the movement to open my wings a little more. I was silently glad my hair almost always perfect.

"I've been able to hit them hard like this for one simple reason," I stated. "I'm more motivated than the PRT, I'm less restricted than the PRT, and I recognize that these conspirators are far more dangerous than they have been making themselves out to be."

"Nova," someone called out, "Are you claiming that the PRT is poorly equipped to take down this kind of threat."

"No," I stated. I felt a spike of anger rise inside of me. At first, I only wanted to make a point that if we had been part of the PRT and Protectorate we would have never been able to do what we did, that only the fact that we were independent allowed us to. But I was suddenly reminded that those were the same people that were at least partially responsible for Rune and turned murders into heroes.

"I am stating as fact that the PRT is incompetent. They write their own press releases and actively have tried to make these people seem less of a threat than they were. These Workers, these conspirators, killed dozens of Merchants and melt Hookwolf's body around himself. But try to find where they said that in their press release because they never did." I probably should have stopped there, but the more I spoke the angrier I got. I should have stopped myself before I said something I regretted, but I couldn't. "Because the PRT's business isn't about making you safe from threats, not even large ones like this. It is about making people feel safe. But feelings don't change facts."

The excitement of the reporters skyrocketed as soon as I finished speaking. Every single person was practically shouting questions and showed no signs of stopping. I frowned and shook my head, shooting a glance at Panacea and then Cheshire. Cheshire had an unreadable expression as she pointed upward. Looking in the direction she was pointing at, I saw Glory Girl hovering above us. Her arms were crossed and she didn't look that happy.

Cheshire reached over and grabbed onto my saddlebags. I gave Panacea a nudge and she did the same. I closed my eyes and teleported up to her. This was bound to happen eventually.

Director Piggot stood on the other side of the glass, watching Armsmaster interrogate The Worker as she tried to forget the PR problem waiting for her back in her office. It had taken some time to pull him away from the Brockton Bay Police Department, but the massive PR issue Nova had caused them help legitimize the claim that they were in fact cape related.

"Let's start from your discovery of the Thinker that infiltrated you," Armsmaster said. "You said she was hiding in a locker. How did you discover her?"

"She gasped," he grumbled with a scowl.

"I find that unlikely," Armsmaster replied. The Worker shrugged.

"What can I say? She made a mistake."

"You're lying," Armsmaster stated. The Worker paused a moment then rolled his eyes.

"Right, Tinkers."

"Do the Worker's have a way to detect Thinkers?" Armsmaster asked. A smug smirk appeared on the Worker's face.

"You can say that."

"How," Armsmaster asked. There was no inflection in his voice, not a hint of emotion. Just a simple question and answer set up. The Worker leaned back in his seat with a smug grin and said,

"Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok."

Piggot's eyes narrowed as Armsmaster froze for a brief moment. Suddenly he rose out of his chair and his hand shot up to his helmet to press a button.

"Implement Master/Stranger protocols immediately." Armsmaster turned on his heel and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. What should have been a short five seconds from the interrogation room to the observation room took almost a full minute as Armsmaster went under screening. She started tapping her foot impatiently as Armsmaster finally entered the room.

"What happened in there," Piggot demanded.

"Did you not hear him say… that?" Armsmaster asked, his voice slightly hitched. It threw Piggot off as he rarely ever let emotion into his voice like that.

"Are you referring to when he said 'Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok'?"

Armsmaster drew a breath and took a step back.

"Director," he said slowly. "Can you understand that?"

"What's wrong with it?" Piggot asked. Armsmaster shook his head and frowned deeply.

"I can't understand the phrase. When you say it I… I forget how my technology works for a few seconds."

Piggot's jaw clenched and she pulled out her phone and quickly typed in the phrase before turning the screen back towards him. Armsmaster stared at for a second before forcibly turning his gaze away from it. Her now heart thundering in her chest, Piggot dialed Miss Militia.

"Hello Director?" She answered.

"Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok." Piggot stated.

"I… Sorry? What was that?" Angrily, Piggot hung up the phone and called Battery.

"Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok."

"Is there something wrong with your phone, Director?"

She hung up and called Assault.

"Uh, what?" He asked in response. She hung up and tried Dauntless.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

Triumph.

"I can't hear you, Director."

Clockblocker.

"Is this a prank call? I know it's not like you but…"

Aegis.

"I think I've got bad reception, I'll just come to your office."

Piggot hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket and stomped out the door of the room. She looked at the two PRT officers standing guard outside and told them the same phrase.

"Who is Adkins Montgomery ma'am?" The first asked.

"And what does it mean?" The other asked.

Piggot grimaced and struggled to not crush her phone in her grip.

"It means we have a massive problem."


	24. Chapter 24

"Amy," Victoria began. After briefly talking to Glory Girl in front of the news teams, we decided it would be better to take this somewhere more private. I had teleported us to my house, and immediately collapsed under the strain of teleporting three people and myself across half of the city. Victora and Amy were out of costume now, talking in the kitchen. Lisa sat in the living room with me while we pretended not to be listening. Somewhat oddly, I felt an underlying urge to go in and help them. To attempt to fix their friendship problem together, after all, we were kind of all friends with each other. But I didn't because this was their friendship problem to solve.

Didn't stop me from listening though.

"I don't get why you don't want to come back," Victoria said. "I mean, I get it Mom was a little harsh that night but-"

"A little harsh?" Amy asked accusingly. "Vicky, everything she said was based only on the idea that I might have done something illegal that night."

"And it was wrong," Victoria's stressed. "But come home, Amy. Things have been… stressed lately and I think it's because they're worried about you."

"Really?" Amy asked in a clearly disbelieving tone. "Or is it because I'm not where they can see me?"

"I-What? Amy, that doesn't make any sense."

"For I don't know how long I've been either at the hospital or at home or flying halfway across the fucking world to help some random child with an incurable disease. And the every moment of my life, Carol knew where I was. She knew what I was doing. She had control.

"Then the first night I go out she gets upset. She wants control Vicky, and she got upset because I got out of it for a bit."

"You know that isn't true! Mom didn't make you do all that, that was your choice to-"

"Not much of a choice is it!" Amy interrupted, her voice hitching for a moment. "It was Carol who suggested it. In fact, it was one of the few real gifts she gave me."

"What are you talking about?"

"When I got my healing powers Carol had gone to the hospitals and made up the papers for me, set them on my bed for when I got home. Never even asked me Vicky, not once. Because she wanted it."

"Stop it, Amy. Just stop. Mom isn't a control freak, she's just worried about you. Please, Amy, come home. I get that spending some time with the friggin cartoon horse is funny, but we want you to come home. I want you to come home."

"Vicky, I don't want to go home," Amy said sternly.

"... Amy, why?"

"Because I'm not hated here!" She shouted, causing me to jump a little. "I don't have to deal with Carol's fucking looks and off-handed comments. I don't have to deal with Mark forgetting to take his pills in the morning and getting into one of his moods because of it. Here? I at least have friends."

"Amy, we're sisters." Victoria pleaded. "Are you really putting some friends you've known less than a month above me? And all because you think Mom secretly hates you and wants to control your life? Because you think she's a control freak?"

"Do you really think Mark would be as depressed as he is if she wasn't?"

Things fell silent in the kitchen. I strained my ears to try and make out what was going on, but there wasn't anything. After a moment, I heard the back door opening followed by two sets of footsteps. I rose to my hooves to see what was going on, but as I entered the kitchen Victoria came back into the room.

"She surrounded herself with plants," Victoria said, a touch of exasperation and disbelief in her voice. "I've never seen her do that with anything before. She just made a massive shell around herself."

"And that's not the worst of it," Lisa said casually as she looked out the window. "Because now she is restructuring the plants into something that might be able to keep you out."

"Fuck," Victoria swore.

"I can try talking to her," I offered weakly.

"No," Lisa said before Victoria could say anything. "She really just wants to be alone right now. Give her some space and time, she'll come around."

Victoria let out a sigh and hung her head. "I guess I'll just go then," she said, disappointment creeping into her voice. She started shuffling towards the door when she paused and looked up, eyes narrowed at the two of us.

"And you two," she said accusingly. "You take care of Amy until she comes back to her senses and comes home."

She threw open the door and walked out, leaving it wide open and the two of us stuck in silence. I stood there silently for a moment before closing the door with my magic.

"Well," Lisa began in her most cheerful voice. "Does that mean we're ready to go over what we learned? Because I've been dying to unload this info on someone."

"Actually," I began a little glumly, "I was going to head out and stretch my wings for a bit." Lisa crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at me.

"Really?"

"Um, yeah."

"And this doesn't have anything to do with you trying to escape so you can be alone with your thoughts."

I shot her a look and didn't say anything.

"Alright, alright," she said with her hands raised. "But whatever it is that is bothering you, you're not going to figure it out flying around aimlessly. Besides," Lisa paused and looked me over. "You've used your magic all day. Flying the two of us, teleporting a lot, ripping a warehouse in half, then teleporting us across the city. Maybe instead, you should just go upstairs and think things out?"

I knew what she was doing, but I appreciated it all the same. Giving her a stiff nod, I began walking towards my room.

Opening the door with my magic I immediately climbed up on my bed and collapsed. Today had been irritating. The Four are sneaky, far too determined to undermine capes for a powerhouse like me to get at them effectively without go-betweens like Lisa. It grated, not being able to go in there on my own, not being able to take any action until someone else has set them up for me. Of course, I could have gone in guns blazing. Ripped off the roof, threw up a bubble shield to protect me while I destroyed their weapons, maybe invent a binding spell to tie them all up. But not only was that property damage for the sake of property damage, it probably wouldn't work as well as I hoped. And with all the security they put in place for all other kinds of capes, it wasn't much of a stretch to think they had something in place for someone like Glory Girl or Alexandria attacked them. Granted, I had no idea what they planned to do if Alexandria came after them, but I wouldn't put it past them at least try.

I was a glowing alicorn at the best of times and a hardcore fan of Nova when in human form. There was no way I was going to get inside their operations like Lisa. The most useful thing I had right now was an ever-growing reputation that sometimes helped intimidate people, but even then Panacea had done more to do that recently than I have. Unless there was some sort of spell I could whip up, I was basically resigned to the supporting role until we cleared these people out.

While it was annoying, it was also nice to know I had friends I could count on and trust to help me complete a job. But I was going to need more than some talented friends. I was going to need more spells, and lots of them.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of my father coming in through the front door. Shaking my head free of my thoughts, I climbed off my bed and when to rejoin Lisa downstairs. It would probably be better if we discussed what we learned tonight without waiting any longer. We still had to destroy the rest of The Workers and find out more about this guy supposedly in control of them. And that left a lot of work ahead of us.

"Sir," A Worker said respectfully on the other end of the line. Max Clay spun around in his chair boredly, tapping his fingers idly as he held the phone up to his face.

"Mhmm, what is it?" He asked, clearly not caring all that much.

"One of our men just leaked our passphrase to the PRT. Their circulating information about it now."

"Ah, damn," Max said, with about as much care as he showed before. "Well, isn't that a downer. Go frame him for a murder or something, I don't care."

"Yes sir, but we were wondering…"

"Wondering what?"

"Uh, if we were going to retaliate against Nova and Cheshire at all?"

"What? Now, why would we do that?"

"Well, sir, she did attack our main operation. And if what she said is true, she exposed one of your secrets."

"One of them," Max agreed. "But by no means a reason to attack her, unless you've come up with a plan to combat her that our war council hasn't."

"No sir, but what about-"

"All Nova and Cheshire have done is force us to reveal ourselves a little earlier than intended. Give it a little time, and I'll get us control of the situation again. In the meantime, make sure Max Ander's assistant has the package for when we do."

"Alright, sir."

Max hung up the phone and lightly tossed it on his desk. He paused a moment and reached for the bottom drawer, pulling it open to reveal it was full of suckers. As he picked out a tangerine flavoured one, his phone began to ring again. Max shot it a sour look and then eyed his sucker again. With a sigh, he held off on the sucker and answered the phone.

""Ello?" Max asked, even though he already knew who it was.

"Max," The smug, sour voice he had become so familiar with answered him. "Would you like to tell me why I'm getting reports a Thinker was able to infiltrate one of our bases."

"Not particularly, no," Max answered idly. "You know how Thinkers are, real pains in the ass."

"Quite," the man on the other side answer snidely. "I that case, I suggest you hurry and show us you are in charge of the Brockton Bay branch. Because if you can't then, well, I don't have to remind that we can put you right back where we found you. Understand?"

"Yes sir," Max said with his normal bored tone as he twirled the sucker in his hand.

"Good," The man hung up. Max tossed his phone back on his desk and pop the sucker in his mouth.

"Prick," he stated.

"Mentally, they're all what you can expect from a parahuman." The therapist said. "Though Regent and Biohazard worry me a little."

"How so," Piggot asked sternly. She was looking at the recently captured villains in their cells. After failing to pull off a bank heist, they were sitting in individual cells where Piggot was able to watch them. The one named Ergo was sitting cross-legged on top of his bed, his head hung low. He wore a green suit with white accents, along with a green hood that helped mask his face with the green domino mask he wore.

Biohazard wore an all-black costume decorated with red and yellow biohazard signs. She also appeared to suffer from hyperactivity as well. Already she had flipped the bed on its side, grabbed the mattress and repositioned it in several places around the room. Each location not lasting more than a few minutes before she moved it again.

Regent was pretending like he was trying to sleep, with one arm draped over his face and another dangling off the edge of the bed. He hadn't done much since arriving And neither had the one named Grue, who pacing back and forth across his cell.

"Well," The therapist began, unsure of where to start. "Biohazard cannot sit still very long will probably need medication to calm her down. But more importantly, it seems she doesn't understand certain boundaries."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean, according to her she nearly died early on because cut open her hand to get a better understanding of how her bones worked. Then she talks about opening up other people and maybe taking a few organ they don't need. Make no mistake, I'm not saying she is a psychopath, she just doesn't understand those actions are wrong and it is going to be hard to teach her that."

 _'These are the people I'm getting forced to hire?_ ' Piggot thought to herself.

"How about Regent?" She asked.

"That one is a sociopath." The therapist said with a nod. "He didn't say much in terms of family history or anything that would help me corroborate it, but by all accounts, he seems to lean in that direction."

"Is he going to be dangerous to the other Wards?"

"Well…" the therapist began. "I wouldn't say so, but I'm going to need more sessions with him to make a more accurate assessment."

"Fine, what about Ergo, did he say anything?"

"Him? He is pretty straightforward. He wants money, the freedom to use it, and a lab. He isn't actually a Tinker in the normal sense, but he claims his power helps him in academic pursuits of science. Past that, he doesn't care who he works for or why, so long as those conditions are met."

"Are they safe to become Wards?" Piggot finally asked plainly.

"I would say so, so long as considerations are made for them."

"Then let's get this over with," she said, grabbing the papers she would need.


	25. Chapter 25

"So yeah," Lisa said as she took another bite of cereal. "That was basically it."

Dad let out a sigh as he played idly with his food. "When I asked about everything you two did yesterday, that wasn't exactly what I was expecting… that."

Lisa shrugged in response.

"Hey, Lisa," I asked, taking a bite of my own breakfast. "When do you think Amy is going to come out of the dome in our backyard?"

"She'll leave now if you go and talk to her," Lisa answered.

"Speaking of Amy and other things," My dad began. "Do you two know what you're going to be doing when you get home from school?"

Lisa and I shared a look.

"Well," I began. "Lisa and I decided that if we started pushing The Workers, we'll either get rid of them or they'll retaliate and we can fight back."

"And exactly how dangerous are these Workers?" The question was directed at Lisa.

"Oh, not that dangerous," Lisa said, then paused. "For the most part anyway. At least, I doubt they have anything that can quite stop God's Hammer over there." She pointed a spoon at me and I shot a look back at her. I was about to say something when there was a knock on the door.

Dad got up to answer it out of instinct when I saw Lisa's eyes narrow in its direction, a frown growing on her face. That usually wasn't a good sign. I watched carefully as my dad pulled open the door and reveal a short man with curly red hair, nerdy glasses, and a tight fitting business suit.

"Good morning," the man said with a nod of his head. "My name is Tom Monta, and I'm here to discuss some extracurricular activities your daughter has been a part of recently."

I straightened up in alarm, but Lisa didn't make a move. Just watched him with the same narrowed eyed expression. Dad shot us a quizzical look, but upon hearing no objects he stood aside and let the man in.

He approached the table with no reservations, not even pausing at the look Lisa was giving him.

"Just you two?" He asked casually. "I was under the impression there was a third," He spoke with a slight British accent and stood completely straight.

"She's indisposed at the moment," Lisa answered. "Why are you here?"

"I've come to deliver a message from my employer," Tom answered, pulling a letter out of his suit pocket. "He sends this in conjunction with the message that all the villains in the city are moving against the conspiracist group you brought to light just yesterday. Even the Merchants have come to an agreement with the others on how to approach." He handed the letter to me, which I took and then shifted so Lisa could see it along with me.

'Nova and Cheshire," it read, "You may know me as the villain Coil. And because of that, I understand any reservations you might in regards to assisting me, but know that I offer some valuable compensation if you do. Today, the villains will be out enforce, and we neither want to get in your way nor do we want you to get in ours. So I propose a truce of sorts, an alliance, even. We won't bother each other as we take down the four conspiracy groups and you will hit some of their harder targets. Enclosed in this envelope is a list of secret locations of bases The Four use that would be optimal for you to target.

'As incentive, I offer one hundred thousand dollars, hidden in a location known only to Mr. Monta. And secondly, I offer you the name of the man that pulled the trigger on Rune. Also information Mt. Monta has. I ask that you kindly consider my offer.'

When I finished I let Lisa pull it out of my hand to look it over as the words tumbled around in my mind. That was a good amount to process at one time. The cities villains had apparently entered a brief alliance with each other to fight The Four. One of these villains was attempting to hire me, knew my secret identity, and knew Rune's killer. I didn't know if I wanted to demand information or run out the door to go help in the fight.

"I was told to give you this as a sign of goodwill," Tom stated as he pulled a second envelope from his coat pocket. He held it out to me showing that it was unsealed and a lot of money was contained inside. All one hundred dollar bills. "Just to show Coil will make good on his word," Tom assured me. Gingerly, I took the package and set it on the table as if I was afraid to touch it. Which, to be fair, I was in a certain sense. I was being led into something I was completely unsure how to handle and I could very quickly get in over my head.

"So, to clarify," I began. "Coil wants me to take this payment, go after these locations he wants me to, and not attack the other villains?"

"In essence, yes."

I resisted telling him exactly how suspicious that was and just turned to Lisa to see how she was gauging it. She was wearing a look I had come to associate with her being on the fence about something as she continued to scan through the letter.

"It's not a lie," she said slowly. "But we're missing something." She looked up at Tom and shot him a look. He held up his hands passively and said,

"I'm just a messenger, I'm not aware of such things."

"But you're not just a messenger, are you?" Lisa accused. Tom's expression didn't even twitch.

"I have no idea what you mean. I'm just another person he has hired to do a job." Lisa made a face at him but turned away. She faced me and took a deep breath before sighing.

"It's up to you Nova," she said. "No one is lying, as far as I can tell."

"But we would be working with villains," I stated plainly. Lisa shrugged.

"In a way, yes, but has siding with the heroes really helped us out at all yet?"

"Now hold on," Dad said, coming up to the table. "It was one thing when you girls were going out to fight these dangerous gangs on your own, but working with villains? Taking money from Coil? Isn't that going a little too far?"

I bit my lip as I considered that. He was wrong, this was very different from what we normally do. Not to mention the possible connotations of accepting money from a known supervillain. But I wasn't just being offered money, I was going to learn who it was that killed Rune. Somewhere there was a part of me that knew that whoever did it was just a guy taking orders from someone else far, far up the command chain. But at the same time, I didn't care. I wanted to know, I needed to. Besides, if all goes well, then we could be a few steps closer to this 'Max Clay' we've learned about. Not to mention, the villains uniting like this could possibly mean running these gangs out of the city entirely. I couldn't pass up that chance.

"Maybe," I answered him. "But we're all after the same things in the end, to get rid of these gangs."

I turned and looked at Tom, who had been standing passively the entire time. "Will do it."

"Good," he answered with a nod before retrieving yet another envelope from his coat. "You'll find all the promised information in here, I wish you the best of luck." He placed the envelope on the table and turned around on his heels, heading for the door.

"Taylor," Dad asked seriously. "Are you sure about this? Associating with supervillains?"

"It's actually not that uncommon," Lisa cut in. "When a threat like this pops up it isn't that strange that villains make nonaggression pacts with the heroes and other villains to deal with the threat. What was odd was how they came here, to your house, and made the deal."

I nodded in agreement. "Because that either means they're really afraid of what I might do-"

"-or it was a power play." Lisa finished. "Showing you that he knows things without tipping his hand. Like really subtle blackmail."

"So our house is no longer safe," Dad concluded with a frown.

"To be fair," Lisa said. "He probably knew for a while so we aren't any less safe, so to speak."

"Not reassuring," Dad said dryly. Lisa shrugged.

"Is there any way we can lose him?" I asked Lisa. "If we bought a new house? Moved across town?"

"Well," Lisa said slowly. I could see her working things out in her head. "Not publically. If any of us bought a house, we would be noticed. And we still got a few weeks before the companies we gave the potions to announce the new product and we can get the money to purchase a new house, given the hundred thousand Coil just gave us probably won't buy a decent house."

"But…?" I prompted as I sensed she was going somewhere with this. Lisa grinned at me.

"But if a supervillain were to use the accounts where I'm holding all my illegal money to make a massive withdraw, then used E88 business to clean it for a small fee, then said supervillain purchased a house under the radar, then a particular Alicorn teleported all your belongings to said house, we might be able to shake him for a while. But that doesn't exactly solve a lot of problems."

"Because he still knows who we are," I said with a nod. Even if we did all that, Coil would still know who my Dad was and who I was. So while even if we managed to relocate to a place he didn't know about, it would only be a matter of time until he did simply because we would go back and forth to school and work a lot. It was almost not even worth the effort because of that.

"I think you two are going at this the wrong way," Dad stated, causing both me and Lisa to look at him with a small amount of surprise. Dad gave a small smile with just a hint of smugness and said,

"Look, the biggest threat of this villain knowing who we are is that they might attack our civilian identity. But even since Taylor has been going out to fight villains, I've been looking into all of this cape stuff. And apparently, there are things called unwritten rules that so you can't do that."

"It isn't as simple as that," Lisa answered him. "They're more like guidelines, but for it to be enforced everyone would have to know he attacked our civilian identities. Kind of defeating the point."

"But that is what I'm saying," Dad pressed. "We join New Wave as a third family, because you kind of are living with us Lisa, reveal our identities so that they can't be attacked without everyone knowing and we'd have New Wave to back us up."

Lisa opened her mouth to contradict him then stopped herself. She closed her mouth and started considering it. It would be a little harder and more complicated than my dad described, but it wasn't impossible. The idea of going against the norm like that felt weird, but I could see it working. But even more oddly, I felt my mind drift towards school and the reaction people would have to me. Right now, my identity was protected by the sheer fact everyone thought Nova was some sort of Case 53. Could I throw that away after spending the effort to keep it concealed? Maybe, if it meant making father safer. And who knows, maybe have a popular cape as a daughter would give him more leverage at work?

"It could work, if done right." Lisa finally said. "But I think we should wait."

"Right," Dad said with a nod. "But I think I'll give Carol a call and talk to her about, I got her number when the three of you did that deal with the companies."

"Alright," I said rising from the table. "I think we all sort of agreed that school isn't going to be a thing today."

"Yup," Lisa said, standing up to join me. "I'll get my costume on real quick." I nodded to her and start striding for my room. I heard my dad sigh as we left.

"Be careful you two."

***

Amy sat nervously on the edge of the bed thing she had made as she considered things. She had never used her power like this before, creating a dome and then hardening the outside of it. Making edible fruit out of some of the plants so she wouldn't have to face the embarrassment of going inside to get breakfast. Crafting a bed out of a soft moss-like material. It wasn't perfect but it had worked for last night.

Every time she thought about going back inside she felt a flutter of anxiety at how they would react to her, at the awkwardness of it all. In the end, she decided she would just stay in her little hut until she was sure everyone had gone to school or work. Then she would turn this thing back into plants, head inside, and hoped no one mentioned it when they came home.

And then there was a knock on the dome.

Her breath caught in her throat as she thought what to do and how to respond, what she would do if it was Victoria. And then she heard,

"Amy? I just wanted to check on you. Are you doing okay?"

She let out a sigh of relief, it was just Danny. After a moment of hesitation, she touched the walls of the dome and opened up a little doorway for him. Danny came into the room looking mildly amazed at it all. He turned around and looked at the door for a moment before spinning and looking at her.

"This is pretty incredible," Danny stated as he touched one of the dripping moss plants she had made to produce water.

"Um, thanks?" Amy responded weakly, unsure of where to go from here. Danny turned to her and let out a sigh. He didn't look all that great. He still had dark circles under his eyes and a general defeated look about him. Not all of the time, Amy had notice. He didn't have it when Taylor was in the room, but he couldn't quite get rid of it completely.

"Taylor and Lisa have already headed out," he said. "I'm leaving for work here in a few minutes, but I wanted to talk to you about something."

Amy held her breath as she prepared for whatever commentary he had. She had replayed hypothetical conversations with Lisa and Taylor about this more than once, but she was unprepared when it came to Danny.

"Taylor is doing some dangerous work," Danny said. "Fighting some gangs that have killed other capes, capes that have been around for a very long time. And now she accepted money from a supervillain to help fight them. I know her reasons, but it doesn't change the facts." Danny raised his gaze to look at her. "It makes me feel better to know you're out there with her, able to heal and help her if she needs it."

"I'm not sure how I'm, um…." Amy trailed off as she searched for the words she was looking for only to find she didn't even know where she was going with that. Danny walked forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

"What I'm trying to say Amy is that I'm glad my daughter is friends with you, I'm glad she has your help with things. And whatever issues you are having at home, we're all here to assist you with them. You're welcome to come back inside whenever you want. And if you want to talk about things, we'll all be here. And if you don't that's fine too. I won't make you go home if you don't want to."

"Thanks, Mr. Hebert," Amy said quietly. Danny smiled a little and said,

"Don't mention it kiddo, but I got to get to work now. See you after while." Danny turned around and start to walk out. Amy watched him leave, thoughts flying through her mind as she considered his words. Then slowly, she reached out to touch the dome and began to break down the walls she had made around herself. 


	26. Chapter 26: The Sentient Interlude

"Men!" Max shouted. He was standing a catwalk overlooking the Industry members that had gathered in the warehouse. He spotted the cameras he ordered to be set up to distribute the message to the other members. He gave the cameras a hard look before going into his well-rehearsed speech.

"Our informants have revealed that all the villains in the city have come together to strike us down. Which means we can no longer operate under the cover of four different gangs. What you have been hearing in the news is true, you are all working for the same cause, by the same employers. And today, it has come time to unite and fight against these villains. It is time to do what we have been preparing for.

"It isn't simply enough to beat them!" Max raised his voice and leaned against the railing of the catwalk to communicate his tone. "It is to take away any trust they have in each other, which is why our moles will be making the first strike. And then, it is your job," Max pointed at them all, "to show the world that humanity is perfectly capable fighting against parahumans! After our moles have torn them in half, crippled their already tenuous trust in each other, it is up to you to perform the plans we have spent years perfecting. Remember your training, and do what you were hired to do. We will divide them! Tear them apart! Make them turn on each by planting seeds of doubt and growing hatred! And when it is over, we will watch them burn!"

Max stepped away from the edge and step to walk away, letting the gather people cheer or start to shuffle away as they chose. He still heard the cheering men as he opened the door to his personal exit and began to climb down the ladder, getting to the ground just a few feet back from a sleek black car waiting for him.

"Our base on Third and Clark Jeeves," Max said as he slid into the back seat of the car. The man in the front shot him a curious look in the rearview mirror.

"Third and Clark?" The driver asked. "Isn't that one of the bases we leaked to Coil's men?"

"I don't pay you to question my life choices," Max answer with rude sarcasm.

"Uh, yes sir."

As the driver started the car and started in his way, Max pulled out a clipboard and several sheets of paper and wrote some names at the top of each.

"Coil, Lung, Whirlygig, Faultline, Fog and Night, Fenja, Menja, Oni Lee," Max murmured as he scribbled them on. Then he paused and considered something for a moment.

"Does it say something that these speeches are the most tiresome part of my job?"

"I'm afraid I don't understand sir."

Max rolled his eyes. "Of course not, I don't pay you to do that either." He fell silent as he began writing out his contingency monologues.

***

"The bombs are in place," the radio buzzed. The Doctor squad leader hit the response button and said,

"Get clear and hit it."

"Wilco."

The squad leader let the radio drop silently as he stared at the Palanquin. Faultline left not too long ago, leaving behind just one of their own. A strange bald man named Gregor the Snail.

The squad leader watched the club silently as he waited for confirmation from the bomb team. He got some confirmation from the gunmen on the exits and the two snipers across the street, each one making it seem like the bomb men were taking too long.

Their confirmation came when the front of the Palanquin exploded.

"Move in!" He shouted as soon as they were going, raising his own assault rifle. Five men followed behind him as they approached the building. He kept his eyes peeled for any movement inside. Gregor the Snail wasn't much of a threat in this situation, probably died in the event of the explosion.

"Sir," the radio went off. "We have a problem."

As soon as it was said, the squad leader saw it. The building was changing shape.

"Labyrinth!" He shouted, plucking Kinder gas canister off his belt. "Smoke her!" Immediately, everyone went for their own canister. Within seconds what was left of the club was beginning to fill with smoke. The squad leader pulled out a grenade, popping the pin and holding the lever down as he waited for the gas to reach a critical mass to increase the likelihood of it getting the cape.

The gas started to disappear as jets of some unknown substance shot down from a set of stairs inside the club. Seeing his window closing he tossed the grenade into the club right before concrete walls rose up around the building, courtesy of Labyrinth.

They all waited for a tense moment as they heard the muffled explosion of the grenade inside. Keeping their guns trained on the building in case the two inside tried something, the squad leaders began to back away.

"How the hell were they able to leave Labyrinth behind without anyone noticing?" The squad leader demanded.

"I don't know, sir." An answer came from one troop or another. "What do we do now?"

"We withdraw, head back to base. Mission success."

"Success sir?"

"Yes," The squad leader said with a nod. "Massive damage down to Faultline's base of operation, causing tension between them and others. Now, pack it up and move out! I have no desire to be arrested."

***

Max Anders sat at his desk, moving some money around in preparation of today's exploits into the city. Everyone else should be out getting prepared, gathering the men, setting up the strike teams. He considered not attending at all, giving people no reason to think Max Anders had anything to do with E88 exploits of the day. But he decided against it, a leader should lead. He just had to make some final preparations. He might not as be well connected as Coil believed himself to be, but he still had ways of figuring things out. Including certain business that happened to be more than a little welcoming to The Four. He started moving funds, purchasing insurance policies and titles where he could. There was a frustrating little amount of them he was able to do that, but he would manage.

His computer let out a ping, alerting him to a breaking news story involving capes. He frowned as he opened the related link, think about how anything thing large enough to set off his alert would likely impede today's plans.

What he saw was surprising.

It was a man sitting in the centre of a half circle table surrounded by several people on each side of him. All of them wearing black and red robes. The man leaned forward and looked directly into the camera.

"This is a message to all those who make Brockton Bay their home." His stated.

"My name is Max Clay. You probably recognize that name as the man Cheshire and Nova recently uncovered as being in charge of The Workers and the other three new gangs. And it is true, I am Max Clay and we are The Sentient.

"But let's forget about us for a moment and talk about someone else we all know. The PRT. Not but a few days ago, Hookwolf burst free from his cell because the PRT purposely didn't put him in a cell with the proper security measures for him. They did this because villains staying in the cycle of fighting is good for their PR in the long run, good for manipulating you people into supporting their corrupt position.

"They also had a known Neo-Nazi Rune locked away, but when their cameras were manually shut off from the inside and she was executed without any willing witnesses, the PRT saw fit to tell no one. When Hookwolf's body was melted around itself they didn't make a statement on it. In fact, if it wasn't for people's camera phones we wouldn't know about it at all.

"And now, the PRT is turning criminals and murderers into heroes. Tomorrow the PRT was going to announce four new Wards currently know by their villain names Ergo, Biohazard, Grue, and Regent. Between these four they have multiple accounts of theft, assault, organ theft, and property damage. And that isn't mentioning Shadow Stalker who actually killed a person just one day before she was announced as a Ward! All of which is documented here." Clay waved his hand and photos of some official documents appeared on the screen.

"This is the PRT that pretends to protect you. The PRT that lets villains go, covers up facts of their incompetence, hires killers, and doesn't mention it to the public even in the smallest sense. But of course, you all already knew that. After all, Brockton Bay's rising star said it herself." The screen cut the footage of the Nova standing before a crowd of news crews.

"I am stating as fact that the PRT is incompetent. They write their own press releases and actively have tried to make these people seem less of a threat than they were. These Workers, these conspirators, killed dozens of Merchants and melted Hookwolf's body around himself. But try to find where they said that in their press release because they never did. Because the PRT's business isn't about making you safe from threats, not even large ones like this. It is about making people feel safe. But feelings don't change facts."

The screen cut back to Clay, a smug grin on his face.

"I couldn't have said it better myself." He said. Suddenly, he stood up and leaned across the table, putting his full weight into to convey a large amount of intensity.

"For the last twenty going on thirty years it has always been, 'Humans, Lung is here! Run and hide.' 'Humans, The Empire is here! Run and hide.' 'Humans, the Slaughterhouse Nine is here! Run and hide.' 'Humans, the Endbringers are here! Run and hide.' 'Humans, the Nilbog is here! RUN AND HIDE!' Well? We. Are. Tired. Of. Hiding."

"We humans killed Hookwolf! We killed Krieg! We killed Skidmark and Mush! And when the villains of the city come after us today, we will kill a dozen more! Already we have done more to clean this city of the filth that has abused and poisoned it in the few decades than the PRT ever has and ever will. Today, we normal, everyday humans, will take out some of the worst parahumans in the world

"So if you are a normal human that is tired of getting punted around by parahuman big shots, if you are tired of your homes and business getting wrecked because villains that keep going free, if you are sick of getting forgotten by parahumans that are too important to consider you, then rise up! We are The Sentient, and we are human! We wear no masks, we play no games, and we won't suffer any longer.

"... And this is a message for Brockton Bay's PRT Director Piggot. You know as well as we do that united your parahumans stand a threat, but uniting parahumans is a task in and of itself. You know that a single seed of doubt is enough to tear apart any bonds parahumans make. So if you send the so-called 'guardians' of Brockton Bay to stop us know they will fail. That everything you built will be torn down. We will divide you, and you will never be able to recover. That is our warning to you Director Piggot. Do not take it lightly."

Max Ander's grip on the edges of his desk turned white as the video continued. As soon as it finished he stood up in his chair angrily.

"Is there something wrong sir?" Max looked up to see his assistant stand in the doorway innocently, his head cocked to the side as he waited for a response.

"Nothing," Max answered. "I'm leaving the office, tell my secretary to hold my calls. I have things to take care of."

The assistant hesitated for a moment before reaching behind him.

"I'm afraid I can't let you do that, sir." The assistant said as he drew out a pistol and pointed it at him.

Two things happened at once, his former assistant pulled the trigger and Max caused blades to sprout out of the gun.

His former assistant hit the floor as blades shot through his feet. Max looked down and saw blood welling up from where a bullet struck his thigh. He hit the floor as he felt the pain of it shoot through him the moment he noticed it.

"Mr. Anders?" A woman called, running into the room. "Are you alright? I heard-"

"Get out!" Max shouted through gritted teeth.

"Sir? You're bleeding! Let me call the-"

"I said get out!" He shouted again, throwing a stapler from off his desk at her. She scampered out without another word. Max out a shuddering breath and checked his wound again. Putting his hand back on it, and struggled to his feet, his side screaming in pain as he did so.

"Who sent you?" Max asked, making more blades around his bleeding assistant.

"I don't know, I don't know!" He screamed. "They approached me anonymously, offered me half a million dollars. I don't know who they are!"

Max took a deep breath and resisted the urge to kill the man at that moment. He had work to do without all the paperwork included in that. That was, if he still was in a position to do paperwork at the end of the day.

***

Max Clay propped his feet up on the desk and listened to the sound of fighting coming from the other end of the phone and one of the Industry communication leaders spoke to him. Apparently, a certain Thinker found his communication hub and they were in the process of combating them.

"With Lung and Oni Lee away we've been able to loot most of the ABB's warehouses with our inside men."

"Good," Max said with a nod. "That's at least one thing going off without a hitch. And what of The Merchants? I was under the impression we eviscerated them, why are they still on the field?"

"They have new capes and faux soldiers on PCP or something. Brutes and Blasters that we're having a hard time understanding the powers of. They appear to-" The single cut off suddenly, apparently the other cell phone getting destroyed. Max rolled his eyes and hung up, tossing his phone on the desk again.

"Oh no," Max said dryly to no one in particular. "I care sooooooo much."

The phone rang again and he picked it up again with about the same enthusiasm.

"'Ello?" He asked.

"Sir, they're here."

"Oh good," Max said, rising up out of his chair and grabbing the papers he had written before. "Who is it?"

"Its… Nova sir."

"Oh?" Max said. "Now that is interesting. Hold her off for a bit." He hung up the phone before the foot soldier could respond. Max tore up the other speeches and grabbed a fresh piece of paper, writing 'Nova' at the top of it. He put the pen to the first line and paused. Slowly a smile spread across his face.

He walked out of the office with only one word written on the paper.

'Improvise'. 


	27. Chapter 27

I flew through the wall of the warehouse, my bubble shield protecting Cheshire and I as we ripped through the thin metal like it was aluminum foil. I was instantly glad that I took that approach because a moment later explosives fixed to the roof and wall went off, throwing me against the ground from the force. Thankfully my shield stayed up.

Using my wings to keep me steady inside the shield, I was able to get a good look at the gang members surrounding me before the explosions full cleared. I reach out with my magic, grabbing the guns out of their hands and pulling them all into one tight ball. It only took a small measure of force to bend them out of shape and making into on ball of metal.

Their next attempt was to launch their Kinder gas and Brute nets. The nets didn't bother my shield at all, but it was a drain on my magic. It would better if I could drop it sooner than later, I decided. I flew higher, getting above the extending cloud of Kinder gas. The gas was dense, staying near the ground and it would only be ignited once everyone was out of the way. With that in mind, I wasn't prepared to give them a chance.

I considered trying to form a spark with my magic, but the idea of what the gas might do to someone inside of it made me hesitate a moment. Instead, I thought of the idea of blowing the gas away. Immediately, I felt my magic shift into my wings. I let my magic weave with the air, letting it move freely for the most part. I felt it connect with my wings and then I gave them a flap.

A massive pair of earthereal wings visible only to me pushed a wave of air forward that shoved all the of the Kinder gas away. As the gas cleared, I saw all of the gangers were gone. With a frown, I descended a little to get a better inspection.

"They used the gas as cover, knowing you would avoid it," Cheshire said.

"Cover to do what?" I asked, letting my hooves touch the ground.

"Go underground," Cheshire said simply, moving to slide off my back. "This building has a basement, they probably expanded it on top of that."

"Why go underground?" I asked. "Wouldn't that make them more trapped?"

"No," Cheshire said. "Besides the fact that they have tunnels to take them out through other buildings, they want us to chase them."

"Oh," I said, my eyebrows furrowing. An idea formed in my head and my magic twitched. "Where did they go in at?"

Cheshire raised an eyebrow at me and started to walked over to one corner of the remains of the warehouse. She took me to a metal trap door fixed into the floor.

"Careful," she warned. "They have a bomb set up on the other side."

I nodded to her and focused my magic, letting it pour out of my horn without attempting to control the form it worked in. It spread out, coating everything around me in its invisible energy that gave me a sense of everything it touched. With little resistance, it sank through the gaps in the trap door and filled the corridor below.

I felt it move around some men standing a good distance back from door, holding more guns in their hands. I focused on the details, trying to get a sense of the to contents on their belts. Then I found their Kinder gas canisters and opened the seals with a brief flicker of my telekinesis.

I waited until they had run out of my range to get away from the gas before taking several steps back from the trap door, Cheshire right behind me, and throwing it open with my telekinesis.

I was left wondering if they actually meant for the explosion to be that big or if that was a result in having that much gas filling a hallway. The concrete floor around it had caved inward in the general path of the hallway underneath it. Walking back up to it, I reached out and levitated the rocks and debris out of the way.

There was no one in the hallway below, though there were scorch marks extending down the side of it. I looked at Cheshire for her opinion on the matter.

"Too tight," she said with a shake of her head. "We'd be at a disadvantage if we go in at all. We can call Glory Girl, let her lead the way. But I don't think going in would be such a good idea."

"But we can't let them have any chance to escape," I said, putting my hoof on the ground.

"Well, we can patrol the other exits," Cheshire suggested. "Collapse them maybe."

"No need girls!" We heard a voice behind us.

There was a man in a business suit, slicked back hair, and a general air of business. He held himself casually, one hand in his pocket the other held up close to him. He was a something of an older guy, maybe in his late thirties or early forties.

"Walked here from the other building exit," Cheshire muttered to herself.

"Max Clay, at your service," he introduced with a bow. Immediately, I reach out with my horn to grab him.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Max said, wiggling his finger at me as I lifted him off the ground. "I suggest you look at your partner before you do that."

Hesitantly, I looked at Cheshire.

"Fucking snipers," she swore just moments before red dots appeared on her person. Immediately, I dropped Max and pulled Cheshire closer to me before throwing up a shield around myself. I felt my magic take a hit of exhaustion. It wasn't enough to be a problem, not yet anyway. But the shield was draining on me faster than I would have liked. I only had a limited amount of time to resolve this. If I hit him with a rock in the next few seconds I think I could manage two teleports. One to him, then one away from the snipers. Cheshire could bring him down from there. I just needed-

"Nova," Max said loudly. "I just have one thing to say to you. Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok."

[Alert: Omni-Negate shard and host invoked]

[Temporary deactivation invoked]

 _External administration failing._

[Warning: External energy becoming volatile]

 _External administration losing control._

[Attempting to rectify]

[Notice: Failure. Going forward with deactivation.]

 _External administration gone._

 _Applying changes gleaned from external administration._

 _Rectifying efficiency caps imposed by external administration._

 _Increasing Alicorn instincts._

 _Reinforcing magic bonds._

 _Intensifying Friendships._

I suddenly felt magic thunder through my body like I have never felt it before. It was like floodgates of pure adrenalin exploded into my magic circuits and started making magic with a passion. It wasn't like before where the magic lingered there, begging to be used. It was like… some sort of restriction had been lifted from me.

My magic exploded from my horn and coated several blocks in its energy, allowing me to find the snipers. I crushed their guns with my telekinesis and dropped my shield. I grabbed Max and lifted him off the ground and into the air.

"Oh," he said. "Well, that wasn't supposed to happen."

"I get the feeling you should be more worried than that," I warned. I felt an irrational spike of anger at the fact he pointed several snipers at my friend. He was going to hurt for that.

"I should be," Max agreed. "But I've been in enough situations like this before that it simply doesn't quite take hold anymore."

"Bullshit," Cheshire said. "He's just gotten really good at hiding it." Max gave a shrugged and said nothing.

[Notice: Reactivation]

 _Warning: External administration attempting to regain control_

[Attempting to administrate external energy]

 _Frustration. Resistance._

[Partial success.]

 _Correct expression found: Horseapples._

Suddenly I felt my magic leaving me as quickly as it came. No, scratch that. Quicker.

"Cheshire!" I shouted right before my magic cut out and I was forced to drop Max.

"I got him!" She yelled back, darting forward with a burst of speed that impressed even me. She caught him out of the air, spun him around once, and then shoved his face into the ground.

"Okay, okay! I get it, you got me." Max said around a face full of concrete. "My evil plan is foiled, curse you and what not. I would have gotten away with it too if it wasn't for you meddling kids and your talking horse too."

"Really?" I asked, planting a hoof in front of his face.

"Really." He answered. "Now, I would suppose you would be willing to give me sanctuary in exchange for information?"

"Why would-" I stopped myself as I realized what he said. "Sanctuary? You want protection?"

"Well, it would have been pretty dumb to come out here by myself in front of a god tier cape otherwise," Max said.

"And the snipers?" I asked accusingly. "And that phrase?"

"A show," Cheshire said, her eyes widening behind her mask slightly. "The snipers would be able to watch but unable to hear you hand yourself over."

"Is that a Thinker power? " Max asked, sounding cheerful despite neither looking it nor having a reason to be. "Well, that certainly makes this easier. Although, that show was mostly for the benefit if I encountered hero or the rare villain that was going to give me to PRT custody. Wouldn't want my employer to have a reason to shank me, which makes me doubly glad it was you that found me. PRT prison is dull anyway."

"And what makes you think I won't cart you off to jail?" I asked, my frustration growing.

"Several reasons," Max said, attempting to squirm under Cheshire's grip. "First, do you really trust the PRT to be able to handle me? After everything they've done? I guarantee, you send me there and I'll either be free and back in control or become a tied up loose end in a week.

"Alternatively," Max said, his words becoming a little more hurried. "For the last ten or fifteen years, I lived with the knowledge that I might one day be a loose end and have taken a great many steps to make sure I had some leverage to get my protection. Granted, I thought it would have been Coil, he would have been an easy sell on the information. But you are just as good, if not better."

"He's telling the truth," Cheshire said.

"Is his information worth it?" I asked seriously. I could not seriously believe I was considering it. But one part of his words nagged me. I honestly couldn't trust the PRT with him. It was just like he said and more. If he got this information to get himself a deal with a villain, then I doubted he was even going to drop hints with the PRT where his employers appererntly had men.

"He thinks it is," Cheshire answered.

"I would hope so, but you better come to a decision a little quicker than that." Max pressed. "I'm quite familiar with my men's response times and needless to say, my window is closing rather quickly so I'll just skip to the ace in my sleeve. Or rather, the safety deposit key hanging from my necklace."

Without hesitation, Cheshire adjusted her grip on him to get the key he was referring to. It was less of a necklace and more of a thin leather strip with the key dangling in the centre of it. Cheshire looked at it a moment and suddenly wrapped Max in a choke hold. He struggled for a few seconds before passing out.

"Why did you do that?" I asked.

"Safer to transport him like this," she answered quickly. "He wasn't lying about the response times, and if I'm not mistaken you're running low on magic so we need to get out of here."

"But I-"

"There's no time," Cheshire hissed, tossing Max onto my back with her enhanced strength before climbing on herself. As soon as she was on I saw gang members rounding the corner.

"Ah, horseapples," I said, taking off as fast as I could. I heard some bullets ringing behind me, but I was traveling fast enough I was leaving an afterimage trail behind me. I took us above the city as fast as I could, quickly getting higher than the skyscrapers.

"Where are we going?" I asked Cheshire as soon as I had taken us a safe distance.

"Your house!" Cheshire shouted over the wind. "Panacea can grow a prison cell for him like she did for herself yesterday."

I nodded and turned that direction. There was still a massive gang fight happening all over the city, and I wanted nothing more to be part of it like I already have been today. But I wasn't going to be able to do anything until I chugged down some potions to restore my magic. Besides, between the two bases I had crushed already plus the one that we got Max Clay, their leader for all intensive purposes, I was fairly sure I had done a good amount of heroing today.

And then several explosions erupted across the city.

They weren't explosions in the traditional sense. They were like massive bubbles, each one about the size of a large building, letting me see them clearly from where I was. There was one at The Docks, one near Winslow, one where I was pretty sure the mall was it, and one on The Boardwalk. They all had a light blue colour to them, except for the one on The Boardwalk that appeared to be filling with snow.

"Alright," I muttered. "Apparently not enough heroing for the day."


	28. Chapter 28

"Is he awake yet?" I asked the moment I teleported back into our living room, Cheshire riding on my back.

"I can wake him." Panacea answered.

"Not yet," Cheshire told her as she slid off my back. "We have to listen to this first." She held up the recording device we had found in the safety deposit box just twenty minutes ago.

As much as I want to get back out there and fight whoever made those weird bubble things and the giant blade forest the Kaiser was making around Shantytown as gang members and Protectorate attacked him, we had something to take care of that was arguably just as important. But as soon as we were done here, I would fly straight to The Docks and make sure my father was okay.

"What is it?" Panacea asked.

"I don't know just yet, but whatever it is Max seems to think it's important enough to bargain his life for, among other things." Cheshire took us over to the table and sat down. Panacea sat next to her. I, now being a little too big to comfortably sit in the chairs, chose to stand.

"We ready?" Cheshire asked, reaching for the play button. We nodded once and she hit the button.

"Hello," Max Clay's voice said out of the device's speaker. "This is Will Holden operating under the alias of Max Clay for now and the foreseeable future. It's October 21st, 2004. My recording device is a wire I'm wearing that is transmitting back to a separate device. In the event I am to die, this recording will get sent to several people. If you are listening, that means you're one of those people. That said, here is evidence file number three.

"I got the only lead on the boss I probably ever get. It's risky, and on short notice, but if I pass it up I might never learn. The boss who paid my bail and has been forcing me to learn to, well, to fight parahumans. Just like the ones that exposed me, they had said. But I know honeyed words when I hear them. After all, that was my job before all this crap happened to me." The was the sound of a car door slamming and then the sounds of a busy street and car flying by.

"I'm approaching the hotel right now, they're hosting some event so it should be easier to slip in and get where I need to go. I just need to trick the front desk into giving me a room key. I'm going to hush up on the details now and assume you get the picture. Can't be attracting attention by talking to myself now can I?"

The sound changed as he entered a building, the distinctive sound of a electronic doorbell playing as the door opened. We listened intently as he got the lady behind the desk to give him a new key card for the room he wanted. He did this by paying someone fifty bucks to distract the lady when he answered his phone, which he did as soon as she asked him for some important information. I presume he took the moment to check her computer for the right answer.

There was more walking and the sound of elevator music before Cheshire hit fast forward. If anyone would know where to stop it would be her. She released the button and the sound of shuffling came from the recorder.

"Come on, come on," Max, or Will now I guess, mumbled under his breath. "If I have to search the whole freakin Presidential Suite just to find some dirty on this guy I'm not going to happy. Can't even find his real name. ' ', fakest name ever."

There was a few minutes of more shuffling around, more covert searches and the ruffling of papers when Will suddenly swore under his breath and started running somewhere. The sound of a door closing was heard just as Will stopped moving.

"Here we are Mr. Archer," A distinctly high-class British accent said. "Now that we're in the comfort of your room, would you like to discuss that small problem I've been trying to talk to you about all night?"

"Not yet Carson," A curt man's voice answered, Mr. Archer I guessed. "Tell me the passphrase first."

"As you say, sir, 'Adkins S. Montgomery is Ragnarok'."

"Good, you may continue." There was the sound of a clinking glass and the sound of a liquid being poured into something.

"Well sir, I simply was questioning your spending in regards to The Sentient."

"What about it?"

"Sir, as much hope as we have for The Sentient, the kind of spending is going to bankrupt the company."

"Not overnight it won't," Mr. Archer responded.

"Ah, true sir, but in a matter of years, it will. The Sentient are an enormous strain on your checkbook, and I advise you reconsider this recent purchase. After all, all the money you put into that Kinder gas of yours wasn't cheap."

"Your advice is appreciated Carson, but unwanted. Proceed with the purchase as ordered."

"But sir, you are going to kill the company."

"Quite honestly Carson? Fuck the company."

"I do beg your pardon!"

"Carson, I don't give a damn about this company anymore. It exists solely to fund The Sentient, once they have completed their purpose I'll have no need for it anymore."

"Mr. Archer," Carson stressed. "I worked with your father to help build this company, and when he passed it on to you I promised I would help you maintain it and grow. Have you already forgotten that? I was there for you when you triggered, and covered for you when you were out in costume, and there for you again when you met Adkins for the first time. But ever since-"

"It doesn't matter!" Mr. Archer yelled, the sound of a glass shattering a moment later. "I don't give a damn about my father, or this company, or fucking Adkins! All that matters is The Sentient."

"I see sir," Carson said in a defeated tone. "Then, might I suggest you reconsider your goal for The Sentient?"

"For what reason?"

"Well sir, while your goal of taking over one of those cities is certainly possible with the plan you've laid out, holding on to it is another matter entirely. If it were a cape, they might condemn the area, but these are normal humans. As soon as you have a grip on a city, the military is going to come in and take it from you."

There was a soft laugh from Archer. "Normal humans fixing what parahumans can't. I can almost live with that ending."

"Sir? Do you actually want The Sentient to succeed?"

Archer paused a long time before answering. "Of course I do, but I don't think it matters in the end now does it? Either it all works out or it goes down in flames. But no matter which way, I've made my mark on the world. My perfectly human mark."

"Archer, do you expect me to stand by and let you throw your life away for a cause you don't even care if succeeds?"

"Frankly Carson, I don't expect you to do anything. I want this to work, and at the same time, I don't care if it doesn't. Because even if our plans are somehow stopped, I will have given hope to all the humans in the world. And if me, my father's company, and The Sentient themselves have to burn to get there, so be it."

"Well Mr. Archer, I am bound by duty to stop you. Your father wouldn't let me do otherwise."

There was a pause from Archer, then he said, "No, I suppose he wouldn't." Suddenly, a gunshot rang out loudly from the recorder followed by a heavy thump.

"I'm sorry Carson," Archer stated. "You were a good family friend, but I don't have room for friends anymore."

Cheshire reached out and hit the stop button. She glanced up at me and said,

"There isn't anything else."

"So… That's him?" I asked. "That's the person responsible for all of this?"

"I… don't know," Cheshire said with a frown. "My power wasn't working during that entire exchange."

"What?" I asked, shocked.

"I don't know it was just… off." She said weakly.

"Like when they use the passphrase?"

"No," she answered with a shake of her head. "When they use the passphrase it's like my power comes to a complete stop, screeching to a halt. Those people just didn't exist as far as my power was concerned. Every attempt I made to try and understand them only lead to my power getting redirected elsewhere." Cheshire paused and considered something for a moment.

"Wait, you can hear the passphrase can't you?" Cheshire said shooting me an odd look.

"Uh, yes?" I said, unsure of how to answer.

"That name, Adkins, it has something to do with it doesn't it?"

"Yeah, its part of a whole name, along with a statement of who that person is." I figure that would probably be the easiest way to communicate it. Besides, every time I hear it I feel magic surge inside of me and that could quickly get annoying, if useful. I would ask Cheshire about it, if I thought she would be able to parse through all the magic details.

"Hmm," Cheshire said thoughtfully. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she poured more brain power into it. "Adkins. Adkins. What's the rest of the name?"

"Adkins S. Montgomery," I answered. Cheshire quirked her lips.

"There is something there, barely enough to notice. I can hear the name, and if I wasn't paying attention I might not even notice that it was resisting my power. What is the second half?"

"Is Ragnarok," I told her as I felt more curious as she worked through it.

"There it is again," Cheshire said, a little bit of annoyance creeping into her voice. It's small, something that would only be noticed if someone was paying attention to it. It must be…"

"Uh, Cheshire," Panacea suddenly said, almost surprised me as she had been quite the whole time. "What is it?"

Cheshire let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright, straight guesswork, no power involved, it's some sort of Stranger/ Trump cape. Someone who's name is Adkins Montgomery, and someone who is also R- Ah fuck!" Cheshire suddenly grabbed her head. Instinctively Panacea reached out to touch her, but Cheshire waved her off.

"No, I'm fine," She said bitterly. "Alright, that proves it. It is some sort of Stranger/Trump power linked to those two terms. There can be a lot of different ways to think of Ragnarok. And there can be more than one Adkins Montgomery in the world. But there can only be one person who is both, and that is how the power takes effect." Cheshire let out another sigh. "But again, that is just me using normal deductive abilities, so don't think of it the same way as my normal deductions."

"No, it makes sense," I said with a nod. "But it really only raises more questions."

"Fucking tell me about it," Cheshire complained. "Can we just forget this for a moment, I risk giving myself a Thinker headache just by having each part of the phrase in the same stream of conscious thought."

"Alright," I said, feeling a little disappointed that we couldn't continue this. It was all very interesting, and the idea it might put us right at the very centre of this whole Sentient nonsense made me a little hopeful. Max's, er, Will's paranoia paid off. Speaking of which…

"I think it's time we had a talk with 'Will'." I stated.

***

Max's, or Will's, or whatever his name was, cell was some sort of bio-creation Panacea whipped up. It sat in the corner of my basement, reaching to the ceiling. It white, wood-like substance of some sort. Maybe ivory? Could she make ivory out of plants? Well, it would hold him anyway.

Panacea reached through the cell bars and touched Will on the cheek for a brief second before pulling back, his eyes flying open a moment later. He paused and looked around as he tried to make sense of his surroundings. He rubbed his eyes a bit before letting out a stretch.

"I take you've probably heard that recording by now." Will stated when he finally came to terms with where he was.

"We have," I said evenly. I wasn't sure why, but Cheshire was letting me lead this one. Maybe she was still suffering from whatever that was a little bit ago. I wasn't complaining though, it liked being able to confront him on this. "What else do you know?"

"Oh, what don't I know?" Will said, taking a sitting position. "But before we get into that, let's discuss my deal."

"You're deal?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "You lead a terrorist organization, ordered the death of one of my friends, and you think you get a deal? After already playing your trump card?"

"You know," Will said thoughtfully. "I always wondered about that expression, because even if I've played my trump card, that doesn't change the fact that I might still have a four of a kind in hand."

"What are you getting at?" I asked seriously.

"What I'm saying Nova, is that I've been a lot of things in life and the labels you put on me are not the first or the last." He leaned forward and gave me an intense look. "I've been a college dropout, a failed father, a used car salesman, a thief, a con man, and prison gang leader. And when the man you now know as Mr. Archer pulled me out of prison and put my talents to use, I became a motivational speaker for the cause of humanity. Not long later I was in charge of Boston's recruitment campaign. After that, I became head of The Sentient's Brockton Bay conspiracy. And if you really want to pin the death on me, I was also the man who ordered the death of Rune. However, with every single one of those roles I've played, I've always done it to survive. But there is one thing I've had the potential to be for years." He held out a hand symbolically. "A man about to help someone else kill dozens of parahumans to impose some strange hybrid of the French Reign of Terror and Stalinism."

For the first time since I've encountered him, and actual frown overtook the perpetual smug expression on his face. His gaze fell slightly, only for his smug look to return a moment later. However, it didn't seem quite as natural as it was a moment ago.

"You see, it's all great sitting at the top of your own citywide gang and conspiracy. It was even great to tell people about our cause, the cause of making humanity great again. To make humanity important in spite of capes, just like the Thinkers that put me away." Will let out a small laugh. "You know, that is actually the line they used when trying to recruit me?

"But I'm getting off topic. I've been in the game too long to expect my position, regardless of how I felt about it, to actually stay to me. To actually think the people in charge cared enough about me to not have me killed. One day I might make a mistake, I might say the wrong thing to the wrong person, they might want to rotate my ever ageing body and get a fresh face, or I might get captured by the PRT and Archer won't think I'm worth the trouble of saving and we'll just have me killed. Either way, I was doomed to fail the moment I was sprung from my prison cell. But I wasn't about to take it sitting down.

"I start pushing for information, which is how the recording you heard came to be. I sought to know the very things Archer didn't want people to know for the express reason I wanted to know them for. And I learned so, so many things. That recording? You might have noted it was evidence file number three. There are thirteen in total with all sorts of juicy details. And all I ask is permission to remain in your specific custody for the foreseeable future."

"That… was really long," I said dryly.

"Sorry," Will said with a shrug. "Monologues have sort of been my job for the last couple of years. It's a force of habit."

"Anyway," I said, moving past that, "What can you have that could be valuable enough to justify us keeping you around. Not only did you kill my friend and part take in a massive conspiracy that is still ravaging the city, but you're also kind of annoying. It is really not worth my time."

"Not worth your time, huh?" Will asked curiously. "Then I suppose you don't want to know about our capes?"

"Doesn't that go against the human supremacy thing," I countered. He gave me another shrug.

"True, but we have to train our men to be prepared for everything. And I mean that in the most literal sense, as we are training normal men to fight capes. So let's just say that the training is all not all that kind to those unlucky enough to be a foot soldier. I've learned of over thirty people triggering during training, and those are just the ones I know about. On top of that, because the 'morals' we 'taught' them, almost all of them went to join the Protectorate. In fact, no small portion of the PRT's Think Tank comes from Thinkers we made. I know we've cut ties with most of them, but there are always those few…" He trailed off.

"And you expect us to take care of you in the meantime, and we're supposed to think you're not going to try to get free at any point after that?"

"Free?" Will laughed. "Nova, I haven't tasted freedom since I accidentally got my high school sweetheart pregnant around twenty years ago. And frankly, I'm not sure I really care about it anymore."

I didn't have a response to that, so I just turned and looked a Cheshire. Her expression was hard to read, some mix of incredible interest and frustration.

"I think it's worth it," she said. "If you want, I'll stay here and learn what I can while you go out and see what you can do about the city."

I nodded and looked at Panacea. "Okay, but I could use some backup."

"Me?" She asked, a little surprised.

"Yes," I said with a nod, giving her a little smile. "There are still plenty of other gang members to hit, and I'm ready for this day to be over."

***

A/N: It is equal parts annoying and fun to write a character who enjoys making and giving monologues. Aside from that Max, or Will, is a smug asshole. It is his resting expression for almost everything he is feeling. He has used it so much in the role for The Sentient that he has learned to use it no matter what emotion he is feeling. Sometimes he uses it as a mask, sometimes he uses it as a coping mechanism, sometimes he uses it honestly. There aren't a lot of things that make him drop that demeanor.

That said, there was a line I wanted to include but didn't see a place to put it without ruining the flow of the dialogue, so I'm just going to put it at the end here as a really short omake or snippet:

"Wow," I said. "Do you have any other personality trait than smug asshole one hundred percent of the time?"

"Trust me," Cheshire said, interrupting him before he could speak. "It is his natural state of being."

Finally, there might not be a chapter tomorrow as I go in for surgery in a couple hours and I'll probably be too out of it to get a new one written in time.


	29. Chapter 29

I did my best to forget everything that was going on with Will, as it was only going to give me a headache. Lisa will let me know everything I needed later, probably in a fashion that was much easier to understand.

For now I stretched my wings and flew over the city. Panacea clinging to my back with her hands around my neck. It was the first time we had flown with just the two of us. Before this she had always held onto Cheshire, making her kind of awkward when it came how she sat.

"Do you know where we're going?" Panacea shouted over the wind, yelling into my ear.

"The Docks!" I shouted back. "Going to make sure my dad is okay!"

"Alright, but can you swing by the Boat Graveyard first, I have an idea!"

Instead of answering, I angled my wings slightly to change course. Once facing the right direction, I let it loose.

It struck me right then how many ratings I must have. The speed I was traveling at was enough for a Mover rating, not to mention my teleportation. Would my shield be a Brute power? My telekinesis was something of a Shaker and Blaster power. Plus my Changer ability. And because these wings would never lift a normal horse that's a Breaker state tacked on there too. Would my potions be a Tinker or Trump power? Come to think of it, what was my magic classified as a whole? It doesn't have any set rules as far as I could tell, and I've been discovering something new the more I toyed with it. In fact, a lot of it has been on this odd sense of instinct, so maybe a power specific Thinker power as well. Heck, at this point who's to say I couldn't make a spell that would also tact a Master and Stranger power on the end. Then I'd have more than a bit of everything.

Truly, I am the grabbiest grab bagger of grab bag capes.

I landed in the Boat Graveyard with a little splash as my hoofs sank into the inch or two of water that has been sitting in the location since most of the water drained out into the ocean.

"As much as I enjoy getting algae in my fur Panacea, why are we here?" I asked, lifting a hoof up to examine the goo that now covered it.

"Well, for the algae." Panacea said as she slid off my back and plopped into the water herself. "Algae is one of least complex plants capable of doing photosynthesis. It does everything a plant does, but with no structure to it. Just floating around aimlessly and clutching onto whatever surface it happens to touch. Making for doing something like this."

Panacea knelt down and put her hand in the water, the green algae immediately shifting in response. I had underestimated just how much algae was growing the area until the edges of the water were no longer green while the water near us got even darker. Slowly, green slushy material began crawling up her arm and moving around the outside of her costume until it surrounded everything except her face. Then it began to change shape and colour. It got darker, becoming more wood like. The shape extended a little to match the colour and form a more symmetrical look.

When she was finished she looked like a knight made out of wood. The general shape was more blocky than I would have pictured her with and lacked in finer detail, but it would protect her fine. She grew it without any way for a normal person to take it off, which wouldn't be a problem for her.

"What do you think?" She asked, flexing her fingers inside of the gauntlet she had made, changing it slightly as she felt how it worked.

"It's great," I said. "But are you going to start going out in this a lot? Because it might make it hard for people to recognize you."

"Well, actually," Panacea said slowly. "I was thinking about using this as a sort of cover? Like, if I go back home but still want to go on cape outings with you guys, I could use this and pretend to be someone else."

"Like a secret identity?" I asked. "Specifically for your family?"

"Well, yeah," she responded, suddenly sound a little shy. "We're not exactly on the best of terms right now but-"

"No, I get it." I interrupted her. "And we can work on the idea later, but right now I really want to see if my dad is okay." Instead of responding, Panacea nodded and moved to climb on my back. I shifted uncomfortably as her new armor bit into my skin before she changed the outside of it to not be so jagged.

"Hey, you got a name for this new cape persona?" I asked as I took off into the air.

"I was thinking… Flower Knight?"

"Not going to lie, but that sounds a little too girly to ever be taken seriously."

"This coming from cartoon horse whose power gives her the collective censorship of a PG-13 movie?"

"...Touche."

We flew the rest of the way over to the administration building in The Dock in relative silence. I had only been here once or twice with my father, but I remembered what it looked like. Only now it on the inside of a massive bubble.

The bubble itself was taller than most buildings in the area and encompassed a large amount of them, with my father's workplace being closer to the centre. I couldn't see very far into it because of a massive snowfall occurring inside the bubble. The ground and buildings were already covered in several feet of snow. Enough that people were probably already trapped in buildings.

The PRT was already in the area, surrounding the bubble with a protective perimeter. Miss Militia was on the scene, overseeing everything. Adjusting my course slightly, I went in to land near her.

She had already noticed me by the time I came in for my landing and waited patiently for me to descend. I did so slowly, making sure I wasn't going to accidentally drop Panacea with the new weight and balance she had now.

"What is going on," I asked the moment my hoofs touched the ground. Miss Militia's eyes glanced at Panacea as she slid off my back before answering.

"A cape called Supesu," she explained. "Really dangerous and a completely unhinged Case 53, but until now he was also reclusive. He lived somewhere along the highway between here and Boston, only ever coming out to steal food and other supplies he needed. He never attacked unprovoked which made going after him more trouble than he was worth. Although, that doesn't seem to be the case anymore."

I appreciated her forwardness. I was sure I didn't have much goodwill in the PRT and Protectorate currently, and if they knew I had captured 'Max Clay' and wasn't about to hand him over I was sure I wouldn't have any at all. Although I didn't know the others well, Miss Militia and Armsmaster were the only ones I could picture putting that aside and just focusing on the task at hand instead of trying to give me a brief lecture in between things.

"So what are his powers?" I asked, pointing a hoof at the massive bubble near us.

"Troubling," Miss Militia answered with a nod. "He creates these bubbles where the rules of the world are different. We don't know how long these bubbles last or if Supesu is able to cancel them at any time, and we don't know to what extent he is able to change the rules. But we do know he has limitations."

"Such as?"

"Well, for one he has never created a barrier that couldn't be passed through. The people on the inside can come out if they can get to the barrier while we can go in if it is deemed safe to do so."

"Do we know rules with this one?" I asked, a frown growing on my face. This was sounding less and less like something I would be able to help with easily.

"We know what effect the rule is causing, for lack of anything else." She shook her head and turned to face the bubble, "The inside of all the buildings are being kept at a constant temperature of one-hundred degrees exactly, while everything outside immediately drops to negative fifteen. We're not sure where the snow is coming from, but…"

"But?" I raised an eyebrow at her.

"But if this goes on much longer the buildings are going to start caving in, likely causing the effect that is keeping them warm to drop."

My frown deepened. So we were also on a clock.

"Has anyone got out yet?"

Miss Militia's eyebrows drew together. "No, which is part of the reason we haven't sent anyone in yet. There are any number of other rules he might have made that we're unaware of. That and all clothing that might be used to keep a person warm would freeze the moment they stepped in the field. One thing we do know about Supesu's fields is that no rule can kill anyone outright. A sort of less limited Manton Effect that makes it so this cold effect couldn't freeze organic matter."

"What about fur?" I asked. Miss Militia paused and cast me a glance.

"Fur might be immune to the effect, but I wouldn't recommend you going in there. There are other rules we don't know about yet."

I bit my lip as I considered it. If Cheshire were here, she could probably tell us exactly what we're heading into. I briefly considered teleporting back to the house and porting back again, but that would be a massive drain on my magic and I already drank most of my magic replenishing potions after encountering Max. If I ran into any problems while inside the bubble, I wouldn't have much left to work with.

"I'll do it anyway," I stated. "We have to get those people out of there." To her credit, Miss Militia didn't argue. She nodded once and stepped toward the PRT officers to tell them to let me through. As she did that, I turned to Panacea and opened my mouth to tell her she should probably stay here for her own safety, but she interrupted me.

"I'll come too," she stated. "My organic suit can keep me warm for a long time, I've already made fake fur out of the plant material."

"If you're sure," I said. It would have been safer for her to stay here, but it felt better to know a friend would be by my side. Together, we walked up to the edge of the bubble and gazed inside. The PRT people moved out of our way as expected to let us pass. I gave a look back at Miss Militia who offered me another nod. I looked back at Panacea and offered her a wing tip to hold on to, which she took. Then together, we stepped into the bubble.

I gasped as the cold instantly frosted my fur and every colour on the visible light spectrum assaulted my eyes.

Slamming my eyes shut I was able to stop the mounting headache coming from the colours I was getting bombarded with. I was suddenly very glad that I had let Panacea take hold of my wing because now we were walking blind.

"What was that?" Panacea asked.

"It must be another rule, I'm not sure though," I answered. "I think I have something for this." I raised my head a little and let the magic flow out of my horn and surround the area in my magic. Oddly enough, the magic was slow when getting outside of the barrier. Like the barrier didn't want to let it go but had trouble stopping it.

With my magic mapping out a good radius around us, I lead us both forward.

After about ten minutes of trying to walk through the ever-mounting banks of snow, I pulled my wing from Panacea and lifted myself off the ground before picking her up with my telekinesis and putting her on my back. I was glad the cold wasn't accompanied with harsh winds, otherwise this would have been impossible. Flying as low to the ground as I could, I made my way forward, letting my magic map out the way ahead of us.

Eventually I found the Union building and was able to feel dozens of people milling around inside with my magic. I started flying towards it with increasing speed, turning the door handle with my magic before bursting through it.

I was able to feel the warmth of the room for just a moment before the cold rushed into the room and froze everything. There were a few cries from people just before I used my magic to slam the door shut again and the room returned to normal.

Tentatively, I cracked my eyes open just a little and was surprised when the colours of the room didn't leap out at me with mind splitting clarity and complexity. I let out a sigh and said,

"You can open your eyes now, Panacea."

A moment later she was climbing off my back, which I took as a sign that she could see again. I started looking around the room, studying the people gathered there to see if I recognized any or if my father was among them. Then I suddenly heard his voice calling out to me.

"Ta- Nova!" He shouted. I spun on the spot to see him striding past a large group of people to get to me.

"Erm," I said hesitantly. "Danny." His name felt odd on my tongue, probably because it was weird for a daughter to call their father by his first name in almost any circumstance. "What is the situation like."

Dad paused for a moment, either to recall that I was, in fact, a superhero or to think of the situation a little harder.

"Things are stable, for now." He answered. "We got everyone out of the surrounding buildings and into here before the snow got too high. The weird blinding effect kicked in about five minutes after the snow and cold started."

"Alright," I said with a nod. I straightened up and raised my neck to look over the crowd. In a whim, I directed a little magic towards my neck to see if it would make me speak louder. "Listen up everyone, I'm going to get you all out of here but I'm going to need you all to join hands."

"What are you going to do?" Panacea asked.

"I'm going to do a mass teleport," I answered.

"Can you do that? There are a lot of people here."

"Not… normally." I answered slowly. "But if I said the passphrase The Four like to use, I should get enough energy for a few seconds.

"You mean the passphrase gives you more power?" Panacea asked in shock. "Why didn't you say that?"

"I didn't think about it?" I offered weakly.

"You know Cheshire is going to kill you for not telling her, right?"

"If she doesn't already know."

"You think she wouldn't bring it up just to show off if she already knew?"

"Fair enough."

"Uh, Nova?" My dad interrupted. "We're ready." I looked around and sure enough, all of the dock workers were linked hand in hand with each other. My father was holding on to some other woman's hand and they were all waiting patiently for me. I did one last look around to make sure they were all there, my magic assisting, and then I stretch out a wing to my father. I wrapped Panacea under my other wing then began to focus.

Once I firmly had the image of the area outside of the bubble in mind and I found my centre, drawing up a desperate want to be at that location, I murmured the words under my breath and flexed my magic.

"Adkins S. Montgomery is Ragnarok."

There was a pop and the familiar squeezing feeling right before we were all slammed with the disorienting effect. I let my eyes roll in my head a little before blinking away the haze. The energy boost from the phrase faded from my mind and a harsh throbbing took place around my horn with growing strength. I groaned a little bit as even the effort of trying to get a grip on one of my potions shot a flare of pain through my head.

I wobbled a little as I climbed to my feet, feeling a little weak and a little disoriented. Looking around, I saw all the dock workers I had rescued climbing to their feet and shaking their heads. I also saw a PRT officer coming towards me, alone.

I looked around and saw that all the people I had seen before had disappeared, even Miss Militia. The PRT officers still around seemed more like a skeleton crew.

"Where did everyone go?" I asked as soon as the officer was close enough to me. The man gave me an odd look.

"Nova," he said. "You do realize you were lost inside there for two days?"


	30. Chapter 30

"Alright, walk me through this one more time," I said, holding my head in my hands after having spent an hour and a half becoming human again. Dad, Lisa, Amy, and I were sitting around a large mahogany table in a spacious house with hardly any other furniture in it. It was the kind of house a rich person used to a middle-class lifestyle lived in. Large, in good shape, a backyard with multiple trees, a tall wooden fence separating you from the neighbors, and an in-ground pool in the back. And it was my house, apparently.

"So, in the two days we were in the bubble, you bought this house-,"

"Yes," Lisa said with a nod. "Cost almost all of my money and the companies I stole it from are currently conducting an investigation so I won't be able to do much more."

"-and you managed to enrol us both in Arcadia-"

"Because a certain someone who was cheating on their wife was sent a very convincing letter."

"-Got a detailed outline of The Sentient and how they work-"

"It is surprisingly easy with Will giving me all the information he had and two days to work my power on it."

"-Put together our deal with New Wave-"

"That bit was easy, although it was a little difficult to pacify Victoria when she was asking where Amy was. We're supposed to unveil ourselves sometime this week."

"-And during all this, you didn't worry about the three of us in the least."

"Psh," Lisa said with a wave of her hand. "What was to worry about? I knew you would be fine, mostly. Not like the power structure of Brockton Bay."

"And what do you mean by that?" Amy asked. Lisa gave a half-hearted shrug and said,

"Well, all the cape fighting lasted only a day, with gang fights for territory only stopping yesterday. The Sentient offed a few capes in the beginning, Oni Lee, Fenja and Menja, Alabaster, and Stormtiger. Then everyone, including The Sentient, got thoroughly and utterly fucked.

"You see, The Merchants got these new capes, real powerhouses too. They came in unexpectedly and hit The Sentient hard, distracting them long enough for Coil to reclaim a lot of territory they had taken from him. Lung came in not long after Oni Lee bit it and just steamrolled into Sentient territory. The Pedites lost everything they had, if distinguishing the four different gangs is really worth the time anymore. But I think The Sentient knew they were fucked in this battle because they put most of their men into stealing from The Empire, ABB, and Coil while they were fighting. The Sentient lost most of their territory and a lot of manpower, everyone else lost most of their money and stock.

"But that isn't even the worst of it," Lisa continued, getting a little more excited about this than she should be. "Because the Kaiser fucking lost it apparently, told all of his people to get as far from him as possible and started doing things on his own. It was like he suddenly didn't trust a single person. Shantytown in cover in a blade forest now, with the PRT doing their best to take it down. He got away though."

"A lot happened the last two days," my dad observed. Lisa nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but that about sums it up. Everyone is on the edge of their seat, waiting to see what is going to happen next. I think The Empire is getting ready to split up."

"Did anything else important happened?" I asked.

"Well," Lisa thought for a moment. "A few Empire capes got arrested, however long that is going to last. We lost a few independent heroes and mercenaries when trying to move in and take out Kaiser. The PRT has been attempting to bring its PR back from the dead by introducing its new Wards as a villain rehabilitation program that has shown promising results."

"What about the other Supesu bubbles?"

"Oh yeah," Lisa said with a snap of her fingers. "All of the others ones stopped working after a couple of hours, but they all had time dilation effects that made the people inside feel like they were there for a much longer time than they were. One made all surfaces reflective and lessened the effect of gravity. Another made everything pitch black to the people inside except for noise, which was somehow given visible colour. The one at the mall was the most interesting. On the inside, the whole building became absolutely massive. Anything that wasn't alive or being worn at the time grew almost six times in size. But bubble had a space warping effect like Vista so even though it was much larger, it occupied the same amount of space. It made the people inside look really small by comparison. Because of how big the doors were compared to people trapped inside, only four people made it out and we're not sure exactly how. But yeah, fun stuff."

"We're going to need to discuss your definition of fun," I said, rubbing my temples. This was a lot to process, although not all that complex. In short, I could sum it up as The Sentient lost a lot but stole a lot too, The Empire is on a knife's edge, and we were going to be part of New Wave. It was committing all the smaller details to memory that was going to be difficult.

"So what do we do now?" Amy asked. Oddly enough, it was my dad who stood up and said,

"Well, I for one would like to get all my furniture out of the house and over here." He paused and looked around the house. "I have to hand it to you Lisa, this is a pretty nice place. How much did it cost?"

"Trust me, you don't want to know," Lisa answered. "But on the topic of getting things over here, I was thinking Taylor could just teleport everything over here. I put a bunch of planters and things in the basement where we're keeping Amy's plant armour so Amy could get set up down there, maybe start making the plants for more of Taylor's magic potions. Or… other things."

"Other things?" Amy asked with a frown.

"Well," Lisa said slowly, causing me to look at her curiously. This was odd behaviour from her. "Two days is a lot of time to think, and I might have talked to one of the new Wards who happens to be a Thinker too, and we got to talking about your power. And he had this idea where you made a plant or bio-machine of sorts that grows O negative blood. Or maybe, if you got enough experience, a bio-machine that can make new organs entirely."

"Those would be really complex plants, if you could call them plants at all," Amy said, her eye brows furrowing together as she put a hand to her chin in thought.

"But not impossible," Lisa said. "Ergo, or Thusly now, and I pretty much guarantee it is possible."

"Thusly?" My dad said curiously, putting himself back in the conversation. "This is one of the new Wards?"

"Yes," Lisa said, shooting him a look through narrow eyes. A slight smile spread across Dad's face.

"I see, so what's he like."

"He's… fine."

"I see, I see." He paused for a moment. "Are you planning on introducing us or-"

"I see what you're doing," Lisa interrupted, pointing a finger at him. "And I refuse to let it continue."

"Alright," Dad said, holding his hands up defensively. "Just run it by me if you do bring him by the house." My dad, probably wisely, turned and left the room at that while Lisa shot him a glare as he did so.

"So…" Amy said. "The bio-machines?"

"Yeah, right," Lisa said with a shake of her head. "Seeing as you made that armour on the fly, with a little bit of practice it shouldn't be too hard for you to make these bio-machines like this. Even making seeds for them, turning them into a resource for hospitals to buy and grow."

"You know Amy," I said as I thought about it. "If you wanted to help the most people, couldn't you also make a disease fighting bacteria or virus that could spread and grow on its own?"

"I guess," Amy said, her frown increasing.

"Maybe we should let Amy experiment like that at her own pace," Dad said. "In the meantime, I could really use my armchair right now."

"Okay," I said, rising from my chair. "I'll go turn back into my horse form and start on that."

"And I'll start making the potions you'll need," Amy said, also rising with me.

"In that case," Lisa began. "I'll let Carol know we're ready to make the announcement of us joining New Wave in a couple of hours. That sound good to you guys?"

"Fine by me," I answered.

"I'm okay with it," Danny said with a nod. Amy was oddly silent on the subject. Lisa looked between us for a moment and then nodded.

"Alright then, let's meet back here in four hours in costume. Then the two of us can reveal our smiling faces to the world."

***

I was walking downstairs into our basement a little bit later after having teleported between the two houses over two dozen times just to get all our possession over to the new place. And then using my telekinesis to put everything where it should go. My dad never even had to get out of his armchair, which looked rather out of place on the fresh carpets of the new house.

I found Amy sitting idly by one of the long rectangular planters sitting by the wall. It was overgrown with various plants. Ever since Lisa had taken over the making of potions I had lost track of all the different plants we had and what each one did. With Amy making them with magic circuits I didn't need to charge them, further separating me from them. Not that I didn't appreciate not draining myself emotionally and magically for hours each day.

Will was in a new cell in the far corner of the basement. He had a cot now along with a blanket that he was laying on top of. He appeared to be asleep, a magazine he was given draped over his face.

Moving my gaze away from him, I walked over to Amy. My hooves clopped on the concrete floor, alerting her to my presence. I spoke as she turned to look at me.

"Hey, how's it going?" I asked.

"Fine, I guess," she answered noncommittally with a shrug. She turned back to her plants and touched one with a hand, a new flower blooming just a moment later.

"Doesn't sound fine," I noted, waking up next to her. I leaned forward and smelled one of the flowers. It had an almost cartoonishly good smell. Appropriate. "Is it the thing with New Wave?"

She didn't answer me, focusing on her plants. I let out a sigh and turned to look at some more of her plants. The planters on the other side of the room had more exotic plants and small trees growing fruits a little too big for their small branches. It was rather obvious this was all her work, as there wasn't nearly enough sunlight coming through the high windows to justify this kind of growth. That, and it was a little cold for oranges, particularly this close to winter.

"You know that morning after you came to the house for the first time?" I asked without looking away from the plants. "I offered to listen, I didn't give a word of advice. Just listened. I can do that again, if you like, but I'd rather help you."

She was silent for a long moment, the sounds of rapidly growing plants filling the basement. Then she spoke, saying,

"Do you mind if I asked you something?"

"Sure," I responded.

"What is a father supposed to be like?"

I paused. I wasn't expecting that. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, almost everyone only has one father and one mother, so we only really know what our parents act like. So when you see the dynamic of a different relationship it can seem weird, but sometimes it can seem better. So, what are parents supposed to act like, to you?"

I fell silent as I thought. Should I tell her what I thought, or what she wanted to hear? For that matter, did I even know what she wanted to hear? I knew from her conversation with Victoria that Carol had stifled her, kept her where she could keep tabs on her. I also heard something about Mark taking medication and him doing something odd when he was off it, along with an accusation that Carol was the reason he needed the medication. Do I tell her that a father is supposed to be friendly? That a father always cared for you no matter what? I still recalled a moment when my own dad had exploded into a rage while at work. He didn't do it often, but it was hard to forget when he did.

In the end, I decided to go with the best truth I could think of.

"I think a father is someone who always is there. Someone who you can count on to be there, no matter what you've done or what you're running from. A person that will give you space when you want it and not ask questions you don't want to answer, but is willing to listen when you want to."

"Oh." She fell silent again, not even the sound of plants filling the room this time. Suddenly, another voice broke the silence.

"Would it be too forward for me to put in my two cents?" Will asked, suddenly wide awake and attentive. Both Amy and I shot him a glare.

"This was one of those private conversations," I said pointedly.

"Hey, if it's private, don't have it next to my cell. I'm serious, it is really boring in here." Will sat up on the cot and let out a sigh. "But on a more serious note, I think Nova is a little off on her view of a father."

"And what exactly do you know about it?" Amy asked sourly.

"Why, I was a father once. I even wrote a speech about it in my off time." Will leaned back and adopted a deeper voice. "It was the summer of '88 and me and Diane had just-"

"No," I sated with a shake of my head. "Anything but another monologue."

"Fine," Will said with an eye roll. "Maybe another day. Anyway, my point would have been this; a father exists solely to bear responsibility." He leaned back forward and fixed Amy with a look.

"The moment child is born, the father exists to provide for that kid. To do whatever he needs to do to provide for her. Provide financial support, sometimes emotional support though that is normally the mother's job, and teach them how to survive in the world they're about to enter. And when they leave home, a father is supposed to be there if she ever needs to come back. Of course, it also a father's job to do their level best to scare away boys from their daughter, but I wouldn't know about that part."

"Um, thanks. I guess." Amy said awkwardly, like she didn't know quite what to make of Will. But to be fair, neither did I. Amy stood up and brushed herself off even though there was nothing to brush off. "I'm… going to go do a thing."

She left the room at a brisk pace. As soon as she was gone I threw a harsh look at Will, who held up his hands defensively.

"Hey, I was just trying to be helpful." He said, his smug grin returning to his face for a moment before fading away. He paused for a moment then slowly said, "By the way, I think you might have a Master effect."

"What?" I said, raising an eyebrow at him as I wondered what he was playing at.

"Well, I spent the last decade or so watching everything I've said, ever aware that the wrong word might get me killed. I haven't thought about my little girl in years, gone out of my way not to. But ever since I met you, it's all I could think about. Not to mention this abnormal urge to talk about it. Needless to say, I'm not acting like I should. When you're around, I'm not the man I spent years building."

"So, you think I have some sort of therapist Master effect?" I asked skeptically.

"Maybe," Will said with a shrug. "I only noticed it because I've kept careful control over everything I say and feel for a very long time, others aren't so lucky. But if anyone has been opening up to you when they don't have much reason to, I would think it shouldn't be much a question."

I stared at him for a moment before turning away. I needed to ask Lisa about this. 


	31. Chapter 31

There were already far more press releases in my life than I ever thought there would be. The heads of the two families of New Wave put together some large upscale party to for Cheshire and I to reveal our identities, along with Dad stating that we were officially joining New Wave as a third family. It all went by rather quickly for me, especially for something was set up in just a couple of hours. Yet, despite the short notice of it, Vista, Clockblocker, Thusly, another female Ward called Self-Made were there. Armsmaster and Velocity came, though neither had approached me yet. All of the major press outlets had come too, but I was thankfully able to avoid them for the most part after Cheshire and I had made the announcement. Now comes the harder part, surviving the rest of the party.

Panacea and I separated ourselves from the main group as much as possible, but I stick out like… a magical cartoon horse at an upscale party. There was really no way to get away from the main group of people. But I was saved from answering yet another series of questions from a reporter when Thusly and Self-Made came up to me.

Self-Made was a tall girl, coming in at almost six feet and towering over Thusly. She wore a green domino mask and had strawberry blonde hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. As far as a costume went, it wasn't very creative, sporting what was basically a spandex bra and some leggings. Both of with a deep green colour.

Thusly dress far more conservatively with his costume. What he wore looked like the closest thing to patchwork power armour as Tinker tech could get. It had a steel exoskeleton but every section of it sported a different style of Tinker tech. If it was normal Tinker tech I wouldn't have even noticed it having a distinct style, but when put next to each other all the different kinds of tech he was wearing seemed completely different than what is next to it.

"Hello," Thusly said with a smile. "I was wondering if you knew were Cheshire was. We were in an interesting conversation about the actual barrier between Tinkers and humans last time when met."

"Hi there," Self-Made said before I could respond to Thusly. "Do you have both kidneys by chance?"

"Um…yes?" I said, shooting her and odd look.

"Self-Made," Thusly said, turning to face her. "We've talked about this." She rolled her eye and Thusly turned back to me and shrugged. "Excuse her, she is just a little insane, no big deal."

"Hey," she protested. "I'm not crazy, I just don't understand why people are so protective of their internal organs."

Thusly sighed.

"So," I said, trying to change the subject. "You know Cheshire?"

"Yes," Thusly said. "She called me two days ago when things start cooling down, had some questions and the like. All been very interesting for the most part."

"I think I remember Cheshire saying you were a Thinker?" Panacea asked.

"Yes, I understand things. Big things, small things, all manner of other things. So long as it is a 'thing' I can usually understand it."

Before Panacea or I could say anything else, Self-Made asked,

"Hey bro, can I put on my party face and get out my drinking liver? The wine here looks great."

Thusly sighed again. "Sure, but make sure you do it in the bathroom."

"But why?" Self-Made whined.

"Because you know how people react when you take your face off and put on a new one."

"Pfft, fine." Self-Made turned on her heels and started skipping away.

"Is she always like that?" Panacea asked once she was out of earshot.

"Pretty much." Thusly said with a nod. "My sister is very... nice to people when you get to know her, would be absolutely horrified to learn she actually hurt someone. She just doesn't quite understand why people generally dislike it when they wake up with their organs missing. She took my left lung a few years back while I was asleep. Took several days to convince her to give it back."

"That seems like it might be difficult," I noted.

"Well, it is really only a problem when people walk in while she swapping out parts. I can still remember the time Vista accidentally walked in on her tuning up her muscles. Almost everyone in the PRT building could hear her shriek."

Suddenly, a hand reached through warped space and hit him upside the head. A second later Vista and Cheshire were standing next to us, both with a mischievous grin on their faces.

"Ah, Cheshire." Thusly said, clapping his hands together and spinning around to face her. "I was just looking for you, you think you have time to-"

"Yes," Cheshire answered.

"Good, well then, right this way." Thusly gestured in one direction and they began walking. We waited for them to get out of earshot before we continued to speak.

"Hey Nova," Vista said, putting her hands on her hips. "It's been a while."

"Yeah," I answered. "Things have been a little hectic lately."

"Sure," Vista said with a shrug. "But we're going to go back doing patrols together again soon right? Now that this whole nonsense with The Sentient and the other gangs is finally cooling down things might get a little back to normal."

"Don't jinx it," Panacea said as she took a sip from a cup I don't remember her picking up.

"Right," Visita said with a small laugh. "Well, Clockblocker and I have to head back to base, we've been pulling more shifts recently because of, well, you know." She waved her hand in the air as a sort of half-gesture. "Self-Made and Thusly volunteered to stay here though, so you'll see them around."

"How are things in the Wards?" I asked. "Now that you're almost outnumbered by former criminals?"

Vista shrugged. "It's taken some adjusting. Shadow Stalker is… a massive bitch. Then there is this guy who got to keep his old cape name called Grue. He can be nice, but he is really bitter about having the join the Wards and doesn't really say why. I haven't seen much of Regent though. They say he hasn't done anything really public with that name and costume so he'll probably be able to keep it, but apparently, the therapist's haven't cleared him yet or something. I'm not sure when he'll join up, but he didn't seem like a particularly nice person."

"What about Self-Made and Thusly."

"They're…. Really weird." Vista said, a strange look crossing the bit of her face I could see. "Self-Made just doesn't understand boundaries or what normal behaviour is when it comes to her power. There was one time she was operating on her leg on the couch in common area of the Ward's rooms. Said she was fixing a small break in her quadruple jointed knee. And then she showed me why she needed a quadruple-jointed knee." Vista shuddered.

"Thusly seemed okay," Panacea pointed out. Vista snorted.

"He seems that way, but ask him about science in even the smallest capacity and he'll start talking about it at a million miles per hour, flapping his hands like crazy and whatnot. And of course, none of us really understand what is being said."

"No wonder he likes to talk with Cheshire," I stated. Vista glanced back at Armsmaster, who was waiting impatiently by the door out of the building. Turning back to me, Visita said,

"I really got to go now, see ya later."

"Bye," I said with a hoof wave. Panacea gave a silently wave after her.

Once she was gone I turned back to Panacea and asked,

"So, do you know what you want to do next?" I was hoping she would say something that let us leave the party. I wasn't as bad at social situations as I once thought, but that didn't make this party any more enjoyable. It was worse because it was one of the more up class parties people used to talk to other people about things outside of the party. I could see Carol talking to three men with a serious expression on her face. Similar to the one I saw when she helped Panacea and I make that contract with the companies for the potions, her business face.

"Actually," Panacea said slowly. "I was thinking I should go talk with Victoria. Maybe head home after the party."

"Are you sure?" I said, unable to stop the concern from creeping into my voice. "You know you don't have to go back if you don't want to."

"It is only going to get harder the longer I put it off." Panacea said sullenly. "But if things don't get much better, I can always come back right?"

"Absolutely."

She gave me a stiff nod and started walking off into the crowd to find Glory Girl, leaving me alone in a room full of people. I raised my head above the crowd to see if I could spot someone I could go talk to. It left me with an odd sensation, knowing I had people I actually wanted to see and talk to. I didn't have that for the longest time in Winslow. Things have changed.

I noticed my dad wasn't here anymore, probably left the first moment he could. This wasn't his thing any more than it was mine. Self-Made was trying to convince someone to give her alcohol. I can only imagine her trying to justify it to him. Thusly and Cheshire were walking around the edges of the room conversing. Just like Vista had said, he hands were flying all over the place as he talked with an impressive speed. He would clap, wave, and even spin completely around once or twice. It was actually kind of amusing to watch.

Suddenly, there was someone standing next to me, popping into existence out of nothing. She wore trash clothes, despite having an above average appearance otherwise. We stared at each other for a few moments before she cracked an impish grin.

"Hey," she said. "Name's Aisha, I was wondering if you could help a friend of mine out."

"Um… what?" I asked. Her impish grin grew slightly.

"She's just outside, think you can meet with her?"

"I don't normal blindly follow someone who only just popped into existence in front of me."

"Oh, don't worry so much," Aisha said, waving her hand dismissively. "Besides, all of New Wave is here. Who would want to try something with both you and Collateral Damage Girl in the same place? Come on, she's just outside the door."

She started walking off before I could protest so I decided to follow her. Just to find out what it was she wanted. People parted around us as we walked, mostly due to my presence I would guess. Cheshire and Thusly didn't seem to notice our approach though, allowing me to catch a snippet of their conversation.

"...issue of trying to get the body to accept the lobster enzymes responsible for the telomere restoration." Thusly stated.

"An artificial virus could spread the correct genetic code across the body," Lisa suggested

"A promising solution, but the DNA sequences used are too easily recognizable by CRISPR. I was thinking of using gene doping to get the…" His voice faded out into the sound of a thousand other conversations as we moved away. But I wasn't that bothered as I didn't understand what either one was saying.

Aisha nudged the door or and lazily moved aside so I could get through. I followed her out and looked around. It was an exit on the side of the building space, making it like a very wide alley. When I didn't immediately see anyone else I shot Aisha an accusing look. She rolled her eyes at me and called out,

"You can come out now."

As soon as she said it, an older woman with bright brown hair and a baby in her arms came around the nearest corner and looked at me seriously.

"Nova," she said. "I... Look, I'll just right to the point. My name is Kayden Anders and both Aisha and I could use your help. The Sentient are hunting us down."


	32. Chapter 32

Using my telekinesis I poured Kayden another cup of coffee. She accepted with a silent nod, taking it in one hand as her other hand was holding Aster. Aisha had one foot on the edge of the table, pushing against it so she balanced her chair on the back two legs. I had managed to pull Cheshire away from the party and Thusly to bring her with us. It was better to have her here to help vet their story. I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, but when it came to Purity it was better to not take the chance.

"Why don't you start from the beginning," I said, taking a seat on the floor and looking. Kayden took a deep breath and a sip of her coffee. She set the cup back on the table and pulled Aster closer.

"It is pretty straightforward," Kayden began. "I had left the Empire a while back. I wanted a better life for Aster. And things were stable for a long time. I might not say great, but stable. But then Industry happened and started coming after me. At first, I was able to fight off the gang but they weren't holding back. They were fighting to kill me, and it was getting hard to fight them off because of it. When the gang was revealed to be part of The Sentient, they broke into my house and attack us there. I was able to make it out with Aster, but…"

"There was another one," Cheshire stated. "Your son? No, stepson."

"Theo," Kayden said bitterly. "They were trying to kill me, but they just took him. I have no idea what they've done with him."

"And then what happened?" I asked.

"I was on the streets," Kayden said with a shrug. "Every time I tried to contact anyone, anytime I tried to do anything, The Sentient found me and attack me again. I was stuck on the street, hiding from everyone on the chance that they were Sentient. And that's when I met Aisha."

We all looked at her. She nodded and said,

"Sounds about right."

"Aisha has been attacking The Sentient on her own," Kayden supplied. "She'll follow them to their bases, steal their supplies for the two of us. But her power will cut out when they said that passcode of theirs, which is where I come in."

"The phrase doesn't work on you?" Cheshire asked.

"Not in the same way it works on Aisha," Kayden corrected. "I get a headache, and it gets hard to focus on my light beams. But I can keep going, unlike Aisha. Together we've survived the last couple of days."

"Okay," I said with a nod. "What about you," I asked, pointing a hoof at Aisha. "Why have you been out on the street?"

"It was more of a choice thing," Aisha said dismissively. "My brother went and got himself caught by the fuzz, I decided I didn't want to stay home much after that. These Sentient were easy pickings for someone like me-"

"When you're avoiding their cameras," Cheshire muttered.

"-So I've been taking their stuff when I met Luftmother and Hitler's Youth," Aisha continued, shooting Cheshire a look as she did so. "And I, being the selfless black girl I am, decided to help her out. Its helps she can go all blitzkrieg on their asses." Out of questions, I looked at Cheshire to see if she had anything to ask. She considered them for a few moments, her eyes moving back and forth between them.

Finally, she sighed and said, "They're telling the truth, for better or worse." I raised an eyebrow at her.

"For better or worse?" I asked. Cheshire shrugged.

"I think they've captured Theo to indoctrinate him into their ranks," she said. "But if what Will said about their training process was true, he'll more than likely trigger in the process. After that, it is all up in the air."

"I thought they hated capes?" Kayden said stressfully, a worry line creasing on her forehead. "Why would they take my stepson?"

"It is part of their recruitment strategy," Cheshire explained. "They pine for anyone that might have a reason to hate capes. People who have lost their jobs or loved ones because of reckless cape fights. Will was a con man that got locked up because he unwitting tried to con a Thinker, they used that in their recruitment strategy with him, tried to make him hate capes with it." Cheshire paused and looked at Kayden. "Can you think of any reason Theo might dislike the way capes has influenced his life?"

Kayden hung her head, but Aisha leaned forward, dropping back onto all legs of her chair as she said,

"Are you serious? His parents are super-powered Neo-Nazis, how can he not be a little bitter?"

"Who is Will?" Kayden asked. "You said he knows about The Sentient, can he help us get Theo back?"

Cheshire and I shared a look for a moment. After a second, Cheshire apparently decided that it was okay to share it with them.

"Will Holden is the real name of Max Clay, the man that pretended to be in charge of The Sentient in their video message." She stated.

"What?" Kayden asked, her eyes widening a little. "You mean he isn't? And how do you know-"

"We have him locked in our basement," I interrupted. Both Aisha and Kayden looked at me with a little shock.

"But if you have him," Kayden began, struggling to decide what she wanted to ask, "Why haven't you turned him into the PRT? If he knows so much then-"

"The PRT is crawling with Sentient moles," Cheshire answered. "Even if they weren't hopelessly corrupt, the PRT wouldn't be able to hand this as well as we could."

"Ah," Aisha said, nodding sagely. "The government fucking sucks, I'm shocked. Truly, and utter shocked."

"Can we see this 'Will'?" Kayden asked. "Not to be unappreciative for what you've already done and what you might do to help us, but this is a little hard to believe."

"Of course," I said, rising off the floor and stretching my wings as I did so. "Follow me, he's in the basement."

They all rose out of their chairs and moved to follow me as I trotted in the correct direction. We passed my father's old armchair on the way where I noticed an empty beer bottle sitting by itself. That reminded me, where was my father? He had already left the party both I had and I hadn't seen him here at all.

The question was answered when I heard deep laughter coming from the basement.

The scene we encountered coming down to the basement was almost comical. There were two cases of beer sitting on the floor, the first one almost empty. My dad had put a folding lawn chair next to Will's cell and was sitting in it, beer in hand. Will, on the other hand, was standing. He was leaning his full weight against the bars of the cell because apparently, he was really really drunk.

"Dad?" I asked. "What's going on here?"

"Oh, Taylor," he said standing up. "I thought I would talk to Will, us being the only two normal people in this mess. But, um, he apparently can't hold his alcohol."

"Oh yes," Will said with a drunken slur. "I am a ridiculous lightweight when it comes to this stuff. I'm tipsy with just one beer, let alone more. And trust me, drunk Will is a complete moron. Wait, am I drunk Will?" He took a step away from his cell bars and nearly fell over. He took a moment to steady himself.

"Oh yeah," he said. "I'm definitely drunk Will."

"Um, Will?" I asked. "Can you-"

"Oh god!" He said, throwing himself against the bars and pointing at me. "You don't know how hard it is to pretend to be a supervillain unable to drink. It's is, like, a requirement to be sipping on scotch or eating something. It makes you look like an asshole, with is completely necessary for the look. I had to settle for suckers and lollipops. Bloody F-ing lollipops Nova. I tried to fake the alcohols once by putting apple juice in a scotch glass, but then the ice melts and it gets all gross and stuff. I mean, why do people keep scotch and whiskey in a room temperature bottle if they're just going to put ice in it? It doesn't make any sense. Super villainy doesn't make sense."

"Jesus Christ," Cheshire said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Should have just stayed at the party with Thusly."

"Thusly?" Drunk Will asked before anyone else could respond. "Is that a boy? Do you have a boyfriend smiling cat from that one kid's book? You know, you would look really adorable with a boyfriend."

"That's not what is happening here." Cheshire protested. "I don't even like people. He doesn't like people for that matter."

"Oh, asexual Thinkers, how droll." Will said with a slur, stumbling a little against the edges of his cell. "That isn't an excuse. If he's asexual, and you're asexual, why don't you come together and form a pair of bi-asexuals."

"What- How- That doesn't make any sense!"

"Oh please," Will said, waving his hand at her. "What fun is there in making sense?"

"I'm fucking done," Cheshire said, turning around and walking out.

"Will," I said, putting a hoof to my face. "Any chance you are sober enough to tell us how we would get back someone The Sentient have kidnapped."

"Oh, that's easy." Will said. "We make Danny do it." 


	33. Chapter 33

Danny adjusted the Bluetooth earbud he was wearing on his head. According to Will, blue and grey earpieces were another silent tip-off they had. Once he had gotten sober again, Will was able to actually tell them the plan in a coherent manner.

He didn't know much about what he called Messengers, but Will was trained on how to spot them. Black and red colors, blue and grey earpiece, glasses without lenses in them. They were one of the ways Will was supposed to communicate with people up the ladder from him. They come in, aren't bothered by anyone else, approach the last person in the chain of command before Will's position, and got on a private line with him where they would ask any questions they needed and he would give them the answers they needed. According to Will, the only thing a Messenger wasn't authorized to know was the command hierarchy of local Sentient. He stressed very harshly that is he asked anything even remotely related to that he would probably get shot.

As Danny climbed into the tunnel, he went over the questions again in his head. Will had also drilled him on that, a Messenger can't stutter. He has to know every single thing he is going to ask going in and cannot afford the time to think. It isn't his job to think, it's it to ask questions and get answers.

"Relax," Cheshire said through his earbud. "Will and I are both here to cover all the bases. The camera in your glasses is working perfectly. We've got this." Danny didn't answer, knowing that he wouldn't be able to tell if someone was listening or not. Besides, he knew that if anything happened Nova and Glory Girl would teleport in and start destroying everything while Cheshire and Panacea moved in to get him out. He let out a shuddering breath and forced himself to relax. Everything was going to work out fine.

He emerged on the other side and found himself in a location similar to what Lisa had described to him when explaining the mission. A checkpoint underground with an electrified fence in his path. Only there were five soldiers waiting for him.

"Spin in place five times, bend over and untie both shoes, and retie only the right one." Will said in the microphone. "Then approach them and wait for them to part out of your way, when they do so don't walk forward. Wait ten seconds and they'll ask you the passphrase. Tell them and then continue on your way."

Danny started doing everything he said as he described it. The silence coming from the guards making him feel uneasy as the seconds ticked by. The shoe untying and tying took an uncomfortable amount of time, but once he was done the guard reacted just as Will had said. They moved aside to let him pass. He didn't take it.

In exactly ten seconds of prolonged silence, a guard asked, "What's the passphrase?"

"Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok," Danny answered then moved forward without ceremony. He put a had on the electrified fence without hesitation, knowing that would also give him away. It didn't shock him, so he moved forward.

He came to a ladder and started to climb.

"The moment you come out go to your left," Will said. "Walk to the edge of the warehouse, then turn left again. Walk the length of the warehouse sticking as close to the wall as possible until you find a trap door in the floor. Open it and descend downward."

Danny silently followed his directions. People shot him odd looks, but no one stopped him as Will had said. When he found the trap door people were actively looking away from him. Pulling it open, he found there weren't any steps or a ladder, just a short drop into a tunnel.

"The door isn't meant to be an exit," Cheshire stated. "Only an entrance."

Danny resisted the urge to nod and dropped into the hole.

Will and Cheshire guided him down the twisting hallways that made up the underground base. They were made to be intentionally confusing and absurdly space consuming. There were even some halls that didn't lead anywhere, only hitting dead ends. Danny had attempted to remember his path at first, but quickly forgot bits and pieces and only served to give himself a headache.

Eventually, he found himself in an office area. It was at the end of a long hallway and didn't have a door so the man at the desk could see whoever was coming. Danny went through the motions of the other anti-cape protocols that he needed to, including displaying the earpiece, some minor silent motion, running down the length of the hall and back, and stating the passphrase again.

Danny was getting a little annoyed with the sheer absurdity of the silent tip-offs and the amount of time they consumed.

When he was finished, Danny held out his hand and The Sentient member that was sitting behind the desk picked up the phone off the desk and placed it in Danny's had.

"Messenger speaking," Danny stated into the phone.

"Malice Triv," A woman's voice spoke on the other end.

"That's who they replaced me with?" Will said on the other end. "Quite honestly I'm offended."

"Question," Danny stated in as monotone a voice as he could. "Inquiry into recent recruits. Specifically, kidnapped members."

"Clarify," Malice said, "Which kidnapped member?"

"Theo Anders."

"Ah, was sent to Boston yesterday for training. Is going to be re-educated and then trained as a squad leader. In the event he triggers he'll become a mole in the New York Wards branch."

"Acknowledged," Danny said with a nod. "Question two," he stated. "Inquiry into the local numbers as of this day."

"Clarify, what numbers?"

"Active members, arrested members, active moles in local PRT, deceased."

"Ah, one thousand three hundred and two active Sentient members across the city. Five hundred thirty-two members arrested. Forty-nine moles in the local PRT. Unknown amount of deceased. Lung and Supesu responsible for at least fiftey confirmed deaths."

"Acknowledge." Danny said. "No further questions."

"Understood, have a nice day." The other end of the phone clicked as she hung up. Danny put the phone on the desk and nodded to the man behind it. He paused for a moment and waited for Will or Cheshire to say something. They were silent.

Suddenly, an alarm went off throughout the base, a green flood light on the wall of the room blinking rapidly. The Sentient member behind the desk held up a hand and grabbed a phone from under the desk. This one had a cord that connected it to some other location Danny couldn't see.

"We have a problem." The man told Danny. "Someone assassinated a hero, framed us for is. Perform actions Alpha 6 and Eclipse 4." Once again, Will and Cheshire were silent.

Unable to do anything else, Danny turned and started walking away when the man behind the desk said,

"Stop and turn around slowly." Danny held up his hands and turned.

"Why didn't you- wait, aren't you Danny Hebert?"

Danny froze and felt the blood drain from his face. The man behind the desk was pointing a gun at him.

"Yeah, I recognize you. You were at the top of the list for potential recruits. I guess your Thinker pal didn't tell you about the faraday cage I was turned on the moment your call was over?" Danny didn't say anything as the silence stretched between them. The man behind the desk sighed.

"A shame, you would have made a good coordinator." With another word, he fired the gun and Danny felt searing pain blossom through his side.

Danny cried out in pain and collapsed on the ground and clamped his hand on his wound. He gritted his teeth as blood began to cover his fingers. The man walked around the from behind the desk and leveled the gun at him.

"I'm not supposed to kill you, a massive injury to your side to incapacitate you until I can secure you. But I have more important things to worry about. You think they'll believe me if I said you had cape enhancements to use?" The man cocked the gun. "I guess we'll find out."

Danny clenched his teeth and closed his eyes as he waited for the gun to fire. But then a thought entered his mind.

He wasn't there for Taylor when Annette died. He hadn't been there for her in a long time as she grew more and more distant from him. He watched her grow happier and closer to him ever since she got her powers. He let Lisa stay with them a not long after that. He offered for Amy to stay too. And now he wasn't going to be there for Taylor, she was going to lose another parent. And he wasn't going to be there for Lisa and Amy if they needed him. He was about to let his daughter and her close friends down. It hit hard, to know that despite all the progress he had made in recent days was all about to be dashed against the rocks. It hurt. It hurt really deeply.

Danny felt something click into place as his consciousness expanded and he felt power at his fingertips. Suddenly, Danny lashed out at the man that almost made him fail his daughter for a second time.


	34. Chapter 34: Hero Interlude

**The day before**

Aegis waved at Missy as she left the Ward's room in her civilian clothing, freshly showered and a smile plastered on her face. He was the last Ward still in costume and in the building. It had been a long day and everyone else seemed more than eager to head home. Although, Dean had mentioned something about meeting with Victoria and catching up. He supposed couples did that a lot. Not that he had time for that these days.

He spent the next fifteen minutes carefully reading through all the paperwork that was sitting in front of him, signing his name where necessary and filling in blanks with the correct details. The nice thing about the paperwork was that it was almost uniformly fill-in-the-blank. It made it easy, if still a little time consuming.

Finishing up, he rose from his seat and tapped the papers on the table to straighten them before heading for the door. He would drop these off at the front desk and then it would be home for the night, and he certainly needed it. Piggot had even mentioned something about a day off if there wasn't too much trouble in the following days. And Aegis knew how hard it was to get Director Piggot to gift a day off.

He stepped out of the Ward's common room and into the hallway, taking the first chance to go right, leading away from the Tinker elevator and heading for the Ward's administration office on this floor.

He was struck by how empty the hallway was. Even on normal nights, there was still a few people bustling back and forth down the wide hallway. It was even stranger because of all the fighting The Sentient have caused in recent days.

Pushing the thought out of his head, Aegis walked up to the Tinker door and held his eye to the retinal scanner. He gave it an odd look when it didn't start scanning immediately. Frowning, he tried the doorknob. It was still locked. It was then he noticed the slip of paper taped to the door. Slowly, he pulled it off and read it.

Director Piggot was warned.

He barely even heard the guns cocking before several dozen machine guns opened fire on him.

Several organs had already failed when Aegis turned around and looked at the line of men dressed in PRT uniforms firing at him. His eyes were shot out a moment later and all he could see was the light he was sensing from his skin, which was slowly getting eaten up by bullets. Aegis couldn't think fast enough, it was all too much. He couldn't fly through the roof, the door was a locked Tinker door. The only way out was through them.

Aegis took off the ground in the direction he thought was the men and immediately fell to the ground as he felt his body go cold. He couldn't see anymore, there wasn't enough skin left. Most of the bullets had ripped straight through him. His heart wasn't beating, he realized, and neither was anything else. He didn't have enough organs left. If he had the lungs, throat, or mouth to do so he would have laughed at the final thought to go through his head.

'Paperwork was the death of me after all.'

 **The next day**

* * *

Vista fought off the urge to hang her head. She was on the stage with all of the Wards and all of the Protectorate. It was important to at least pretend to be united after what happened to Aegis. She wasn't told what Piggot was going to say, only that she needed to stand strong with the other members. She could do that, she knew she could. The others might not think so, but she was strong.

Piggot walked onto the stage, throwing a silence over the crowd. Dozens of reporters pointed their microphones and cameras and whatever else at her as they prepared. Vista glanced at Clockblocker to her left and Kid Win to her right. Clockblocker was completely still, Kid Win was frowning deeply. She looked back at Piggot and noticed a shadow next to her. Looking up, Vista watched Alexandria descend from the sky and gently land on the ground just next to Piggot as she adjusted the microphone on the podium. Then, Piggot began to speak.

"Last night, the unthinkable and unspeakable occurred," she stated seriously. Vista felt a flare of sadness shoot through her at the mention of it. She knew she should have been strong enough to have accepted it by now, but it still hurt.

"As you all know, The Sentient threatened me several days ago in their video message to the city. They had said that if I interfered with them, they would 'divide' us. But undeterred, we sent our Protectorate and Wards out to protect the city just as they promised to do when they became the protectors of Brockton Bay. Unfortunately, The Sentient decided to make good on their promise.

"After we arrested over a four hundred of gang members associated with The Sentient, traitors within the PRT manually shut off our security and ambushed Aegis and killed him by firing so many machine gun rounds into him we were only able to identify him by what was left of his costume."

Piggot silently scowled as she let that statement settle on the crowd. She gripped the edges of the podium tightly.

"I assure you all, this attack on this city's heroes will not stand. The Sentient is more dangerous than any group this city has encountered in its entire history. They have power, resources, and are willing to kill anyone who opposes them. They are delusional radicals with no semblance of rational thinking, operating on a platform parahuman hatred. That is why today, Alexandria is here to speak to us on how to solve this problem." Piggot stepped off to the side and allowed Alexandria to take the stage. The hero was frowning, much different from the normal pictures and press conferences.

"Aegis' death yesterday revealed a damning issue within Brockton Bay's PRT," Alexandria stated seriously. She glanced briefly over the crowd before continuing.

"More than twenty PRT officers were able to get multiple machine guns into the PRT headquarters and they were able to organize and kill one of our own without a single person noticing them. This level of corruption and infiltration is unacceptable and when determining how to deal with it, an order came down from the Head PRT Director, Rebecca Costa-Brown. She said, and I quote, 'The local PRT of Brockton Bay is compromised on levels far beyond anything we have ever seen or dealt with before. If we cannot protect our Wards within our own building, then clearly we are not prepared to protect this city,' end quote.

"It is for this reason," Alexandria said, raising her voice, "That the PRT will be temporarily suspended in Brockton Bay. For the next few weeks we will have our best Thinker, Tinkers, and otherwise purging our ranks of the corrupt and traitors. And in the meantime, our heroes will act as independents. PRT services will still be available for securing dangerous criminals and villains, but it is clear the Brockton Bay's heroes are in too much danger working alongside the local PRT currently. We will have to trust in their ability to act without restriction to go after The Sentient.

"And I implore you, if you see a member of The Sentient report them immediately. If you are invited to join their ranks, do not do so. These people are terrorists in no uncertain terms."

Alexandria raised her hands placidly and stepped away from the podium, allowing Piggot to step back up to it.

"I will now accept questions."

Vista tuned out as the press began throwing all the questions in the world at Piggot. Clockblocker tapped her on the shoulder to get her attention. She looked his way and noticed that he and the rest of them were walking off the stage. Looking back, she saw the Protectorate doing the same on the other side of the stage, slowly and in single file.

Vista followed them silently as she and the rest of the Wards walked off and circled around to the back of the stage. With all of them there, Clockblocker, Kid Win, Shadow Stalker, Grue, Thusly, Self-Made, Gallant, and herself, they stood awkwardly, unsure what to do.

"Hey," Self-Made said after a minute. "Shouldn't we be like, going out and fight some criminals? Or taking some of their organs? Or both?"

"Hush now Self-Made." Thusly said in a kind but firm tone. Self-Made hung her head.

Their silence was finally broken when Armsmaster and Miss Militia walked up to them, holding several armbands.

"Shadow Stalker, Grue, Thusly, and Self-Made," Armsmaster stated. "Step forward." The four of them did so.

"Hold out your arms," Armsmaster ordered. When they did so, he placed the Tinker tech bands on the wrists of Shadow Stalker, Grue, and Thusly. Self-Made got a band around her neck, the only part of her she couldn't separate completely from herself.

"These bands will track all your movements while the PRT is getting purged." Miss Militia explained. "If for any reason we have reason to believe you've gone rouge or performing illegal acts, the bands will turn on and electrocute you to the point you're unable to move. At that point, a Protectorate member will come and retrieve you and hold you until the PRT is ready to deal with you.

"If for any reason you get rid of these armbands or tamper with them in any way, then we will hunt you down and arrest you again. Remember, the Wards is your second chance, you won't be getting a third."

The four previous criminals gave their confirmations, a series of nods and annoyed grunts. Miss Militia nodded to them and turned toward Vista and the others while Armsmaster went through and double checked the bands.

"As for the rest of you, you can do as you wish. You don't have to fight, but be careful if you do. I'll be giving you these," Miss Militia held out strips of paper to the four of them. "These are the numbers of all the Protectorate members and your fellow Wards in case you've forgotten them. If you need assistance doing anything, use them. You're technically independent now, but please be safe. Get some back up and don't pick fights with Lung or anyone else for that matter." Miss Militia heaved a sigh and shook her head. She looked back up at them and said,

"You're free to go. And again, be careful."

They all turned and left as a group, each splitting off and going their own way. She started walking back towards the PRT building to get her stuff when she noticed Assault waving at her. He was standing next to Battery and a little girl she hadn't seen before. Curiously, she walked towards them.

"Hello Vista," Battery said kindly.

"Um, hi," Vista answered unsurely.

"We have a question for you," Assualt said. He placed a hand on the shoulder of the little girl standing with him. "This here is our recently adopted daughter, and we were wondering if you could take her out for a little bit of heroing."

"Your…. Daughter?" Vista asked, a little confused.

"Yeah," the girl said. "I haven't picked a name yet, but I was thinking Arsenal. Nice to met you." She held out a hand to her. Vista took it.

"Arsenal is a Tinker," Battery stated.

"Really?" Vista asked, looking the girl up and down. She didn't have any of the tells of a Tinker. Her costume was a black and red dress, with a corset like a piece that was seemingly armour for her. Her mask was a bird-like masquerade mask with just a touch of glitter. The theme didn't really fit with the name she had chosen, but it sounded like she might change it later.

Arsenal pulled out what looked like a cellphone and said, "Yes I am." She pressed a button on it and suddenly it transformed in her hand.

"It's also a taser," she stated proudly. Vista stared at it with wide eyes.

"So, you make things that transform into other things?"

"Yep, take a look at this." She reached behind her and pulled out another device from some unseen pocket. "It's a lithium-ion battery, that is also a taser." It transformed in her hand to prove it.

"Does everything you have turn into a taser."

"No, I just really like tasers. Like this taser." She pulled out a third taser matching the design of the others. "Only this one turns into a knife."

"So," Assault said, clapping his hands together happily. "Think you can show her the ropes?"

Vista looked Arsenal up and down for a moment and considered.

"How old is she?" Vista asked.

"Only ten," Arsenal answered. Slowly, Vista smiled.

"I think we'll have fun."

* * *

 **Two hours later**

"Hey bro?" Amber called from the other room. "What legs should I put on for this?"

"Use your agility model," Steven called back as he performed the final tune-up on his Tinker costume.

"Alright! Have you seen my heart?"

"Which one?"

"The Work Horse!"

"You left it the refrigerator."

"Thank you," She called, skipping into the main room wearing less than nothing. Steven pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Amber, put your skin back on."

"But I can't decide what skin I want to wear," Amber whined.

"Put on the Adamant model on."

"It's getting dry cleaned."

"Then put on your mobility arms and legs and put on your stretchy skin."

"The black one or latino one?"

"Is there something wrong with your caucasian one?"

"But I've been white every time we've gone out," she protested. Steven rolled his eyes.

"Just put on the white one on, we want people to be able to recognize you."

"Fiiiiiine." Amber turned away from him and got her heart out of the fridge. She placed it on the counter for a moment and pulled back some exposed muscle on her chest, exposing her ribs and her beating heart behind them. She reached in, opened the clasps on her rib cage and pulled it open. She then disconnected the various connections of her heart before removing it and putting the new one in. The whole process took about five minutes and not an ounce of blood was spilt.

"Alright," she said as she walked back toward her room in the apartment. "Now where did I leave my emergency grenade appendix?" Stevens heaved a sigh as she walked out the room. He worked on his gear for another fifteen minutes when there was a knock on the door.

Moving away from his work, Stevens stood up and strode across the room to the door. He opened it up to see a familiar face on the other side.

"Lisa," he greeted, having seen her face at the unveiling.

"Steven," Lisa stated despite having never met his civilian identity before. She gave him an odd look for a moment. "That isn't your real name." She decided.

"And Lisa isn't yours." Stevens countered.

"Fair enough," she said with a nod. "I'm running from my family and a lot of really rich people I stole money from. You?"

"The Boston mob and the Saudi Arabian government. It's mostly Amber's fault."

The two grinned at each other for a moment.

"Nova sent me over to make sure you're ready," Lisa stated after a minute.

"Almost," Steven said. "Amber is still putting her face on. As soon as she is done, Ergo and Biohazard will be at your service. However, I could use some help with my suit if you wanted to come in."

"Sure," Lisa said with a grin. "Sounds fun."

* * *

Amy frowned as she increased her focus on her suit. She was giving the name Flower Knight more of a purpose with this costume, but she couldn't just throw on any old plant. It would be better if it was something that Taylor could use if she needed a boost in battel. She went through and started selecting the more useful plants.

The biggest issue was making the suit all one creation. Currently, she had a massive tree root coming out of one of the potted plants in Taylor's basement and connecting to the armour's chest plate, using that to feed and provide for the living material of the armour.

She began giving it a cape. The nice thing about the armour was that it didn't look like her at all. She had spent several hours going over it in detail, making it look less blocky and more heroic. She didn't give it much indication that it was a female wearing it for more better cover. And she wasn't telling Victoria where it was she was going, only that she was leaving town for a bit. They might be suspicious, but no one would know it was her.

With the cape made of flowers and a tough organic kevlar finished, she sat back and admired her work. The suit really looked heroic. And honest to god hero the way Amy imagined it. It caused a small bit of joy to rise in her chest because of it.

"It really does look good doesn't it." Will said, causing that feeling to drop. Amy turned and looked at him. Meeting his eyes, she felt a little conflicted. When they first met, Amy didn't like him at all. But things change and these last couple of days had left her feeling less hostile towards him. At this point, she didn't know what to make of him.

"Hey, can you do me a favour," Will asked.

"What?" Amy asked cautiously.

"Don't die, or let anyone of your band of merry heroes die when you head out." Will said seriously, his smug grin disappearing from his face. "Quite honestly, I enjoy staying here. It is much better than what I had been anticipating. Wouldn't do for things to get sad around here because someone got hurt or killed."

"Why do you do that?" Amy asked. Will blinked.

"Do what?"

"Pretend you care," Amy said with a frown.

"But I do care, why wouldn't I?"

"Because you're a villain," Amy pointed out. "Because we captured you, because you admitted to being a criminal all your life before the Sentient."

"Really?" Will asked with a raised eyebrow. "That's what you're going with? I turned myself into you guys because I was trying to escape supervillainy. Am I supposed to be mad that you have done your jobs? Look, even if you took this cage down right now and did nothing to restrain me, I wouldn't leave. And not just because this house is currently the safest place for me."

"Right," Amy said sarcastically. "Because you're so trustworthy."

Will frowned and leaned back. "No," he said. "Because I'm loyal. At the risk at sounding cliche, I have always done what I thought was right."

"So all those crimes, not to mention leading a terrorist organization, that was all you doing what you thought was right?"

Will paused for a moment and frowned deeply then took a deep breath.

"Don't you high road me, Panacea," he said darkly. "I'm just as much a hero as you are."

"A hero?" Amy scoffed. "You're a criminal!"

"Is that what you really think," Will asked sourly, standing up and leaning against the bars of his cell. "Well, since you seem to not have gotten the message, let me be the first to tell that criminal and hero aren't mutually exclusive. This life of crime you referred to? I did that to support my daughter. I dropped out of high school to support her, and when I couldn't make enough money, I made a promise." His tone was uncharacteristically serious. All the smugness was gone, only tense firmness filling the way he spoke. "I promised that I would always do what was right no matter how bad I had to be to do it. I started stealing to support my daughter. When I got wrapped up in gangs, I started conning and tricking people to make sure I could keep doing that. When I was arrested and sent to prison I manipulated and conned people until I was on top so that the actual good people in prison didn't get bullied and attacked by the mean ones. When I was plucked from prison by Archer and forced work for him, when I saw just how terrible his end goal was, I went out of my way to get as much information as possible so that if I was ever captured by some villain like Coil I could hand it over to help stop them.

"I didn't turn myself over to Nova and Cheshire simply because I was looking for a way out of the Sentient even though I tried to make it seem like that. I did it because I know that if Archer's plan ever worked this city is going to go under a Stalinist rule with French Reign of Terror enthusiasm to execute 'villains'. I knew from the very start of this that if it ever worked a lot of people and parahumans were going to die. So don't call me a villain Panacea, because I'm not. I'm just a man who is loyal to one simple idea, to do what is right no matter how bad I must be to do it. And if you destroyed this cell and let me go," Will waved his arm angrily through the air, "I wouldn't leave. I want to stop The Sentient. I want to help you!"

Will turned away from her and walked towards the cot he was provided. He didn't sit down though. He put to hands against the wall and leaned against it, letting out a frustrated sigh.

"Fucking Master effect," he muttered under his breath, just quite enough Amy didn't hear it.

Amy watched him for a moment and tried to decide how she felt about his outburst. It was probably the only time she was ever going to see him not acting like a smug know-it-all.

She turned back to her plant armour and started adjusting the small details as she mulled over what he said in her mind. It wasn't enough to change her opinion of him, not completely. But it was something. Something to think about anyway.


	35. Chapter 35

I watched from the buildings above as my father worked on taking The Sentient members down. It was only a test, some practice before the big day ahead of us. But practice was good, and now that my dad was one of us he would need all of it he could get.

To be honest, I wasn't sure how to feel about the fact that he obtained powers, but I wasn't going to complain as it had saved his life. I decided that my own feelings about it weren't that important, he had powers and now he was going to help me and the others.

I watched The Sentient members back up into an ally as a black mass crawled towards them. There were six of them, already tried Brute nets and Kinder gas. Already used grenades and guns. They were out of options and were getting backed into a corner by a few hundred two foot long rats.

"Surrender." A voice said. I approved of his use of the voice modifier, it made his already deep voice even deeper and projected it over a large area to make it a little harder to pin down.

"Go fuck ya self!" One with a particularly heavy accent shouted before tossing a grenade into the rats. Just like the times before, the darker coloured rats surged to the grenade and surrounded it with their bodies. It released a tiny flash and a small popping sound as it went off.

"Have it your way," Dad responded. A moment later, all the rats surged towards the six men. Some began nipping lightly on their heels while others crawled up their pants and sank their teeth into the meatier flesh of their thighs. It wasn't enough to seriously injure, but certainly enough to hurt going by their screams as they fell to the ground. That rats cover their bodies for a few moments before stopping their biting and clearing a space around their heads.

Desh stepped out from around the corner, revealing himself to the now disabled terrorists. At first, I wasn't sure about the style he and Cheshire had picked for him, it seemed a little too modern for my dad. He had a grey bandana wrapped around his mouth and a black baseball cape on. He wore a heavy grey trench coat and black jeans along with a black shirt. I couldn't tell exactly what it was about it that made it seem like he was younger, but it had that effect.

"Are you done?" Desh asked dryly. The terrorists didn't respond. Desh nodded and brought out some zip ties. I saved him the trouble and picked the ties up with my magic. He dispersed the rats, the black ones he projected vanishing into clouds of black vapor and the grey ones scattering into the surrounding buildings. As soon as I had a line of sight I wrapped the men's wrists together with the zip ties. To add insult to injury, I lifted them up and put them back to back, chaining them together with more zip ties.

With that done, I took a step off the building and plummeted downward before spreading my wings to catch me just enough to land softly on the asphalt below.

"That was good," I said. "You think you've got the control down?"

My dad flexed his hand open once, summoning a black rat into it, then closed it into a fist and crushing the rat back into mist.

"I think so," he said.

"Good," I said with a nod. "Cheshire and Flower Knight should be ready with the others and we can get going."

"Hey," a female voice called out to us. "Got room for one more?"

I turned my head and saw Shadow Stalker standing at the end of the alley.

"Absolutely not," I said, grabbing her with my magic before doing anything else.

"Put me down God d-dang it," she said angrily and with frustration as she stumbled over the intended swear.

"No," I answered curtly. "You murder someone and then try to act like you're a hero, like that changes things. No, I'm not dealing with you."

"I never pretended to be anything," she spat. "Those PR jerks can try to brand me however they like, but I know what I am. And so do you."

"And what are you, Shadow Stalker?" I challenged. She paused for a moment before saying,

"I'm someone who gets the job done."

We stared at each other for a long moment before I set her down. It didn't matter what she was, even if I thought it would help I couldn't hurt her. PRT or not, she was still a hero to everyone else. Maybe even more so once they ran with that rehabilitation story.

"Go home," I told her, turning around to face my dad.

"No," I heard her say. I turned and shot her an angry look. "Something is going down. Panacea's leaving the city, the two crazies are leaving too, and you're running with this new cape. You're going after someone big, and I want to be there."

"There isn't room on this team for killers," I answered.

"Not a problem," she said, holding up her wrist to show some sort of Tinker tech bracelet. "I do anything and I get the worst taze of my life. I've got tranquilizer darts and I'm not allowed to carry a knife. I'm about as kid-friendly as things can be now."

I continued to stare her down as I thought about how to respond. That was when Desh spoke up.

"We're heading into a terrorist den, Nova." He told me. "We could use all the backup we can get."

I scowled. He was right, but I didn't like it. One thing still bothered me about this though.

"Why?" I asked. "You were practically frothing at the mouth last time we met."

"Because the last time we met I thought you were a joke," she answered without hesitation. "You were a cartoon horse, I thought you some stupid gimmick cape that was trying to appeal to children or something dumb like that. But you've done things since, you've gotten results. Which is more than I've done the last few weeks working for the most inept group of people I've seen. You're strong, you've kicked butt, I like that."

I shook my head. She was a little on the ridiculous side, but I could tell she wasn't joking. She actually believed this was how things worked. I don't know if that should make me even more worried.

"Fine," I stated with another shake of my head. "But I'm not flying you anywhere. Come closer." She didn't answer me, immediately striding forward as requested. The moment she was close enough I reached out with a wing and touched her with a tip, grabbing my father with the other wing and teleporting the three of us to the location we were supposed to meet up at. I dropped a disposable phone that was calling nine-one-one on the ground just before we left so someone came and picked up the terrorists. Not that it mattered, the number they had and the rate they were being sprung from prison basically made arresting them pointless.

We teleported into existence in a grassy area next to the highway just outside the outskirts of the city.

Cheshire and Ergo, going by his old villain name now that he had a degree of freedom, were in an intense conversation. Biohazard was talking to Flower Knight, both of which looked worlds different from the last time I had seen them. Biohazard was taller with lanky limbs on top of a gas mask she wore. Flower Knight looked larger than a normal person, yet somehow was thinner than the original suit as well as being more decorative. Imp and Purity were waiting patiently, Imp in a simple black spandex suit and a cheap domino mask.

"What is she doing here?" Flower Knight asked the moment she noticed us.

"A last minute tag along," I answered hasitly. "Is everyone set? What did you do with Aster?"

"Panacea got a family member to watch her for a bit." Purity answered, with a trace amount of worry detectable in her voice.

"We set Will up with a couple of really long books," Cheshire said. "And put a bunch of food in the corner of his cage so he should be set while we're gone."

"So we're good?" I asked. They all nodded and looked at each other to confirm. I couldn't help but smile as I said the next part. "Then who is ready to take down a terrorist organization?"

"I'll kick ass any day of the week," Imp stated with a light laugh.

"Let's get my stepson back," Purity answered with a serious nod.

"I can't wait to get a closer at their Kinder gas," Ergo stated.

"I call dibs on their organs."

"Ready when you are," Cheshire told me.

"I'm here to help," Flower Knight mentioned.

"I ready for this whole mess to be over." My dad said, moving to climb on my back. Shadow Stalker didn't say anything.

"Alright," I said with a touch of enthusiasm. "Everyone got their rides?"

In response, Biohazard held up her hands and they began to twist and shift into tiny thrusters at the wrists. She pointed them off the ground and came to a shaky hover until her legs began to transform into thrusters too. She fought for balance with a concerning lack of control.

"She'll get the hang of it with some practice," Ergo reassured as he pulled out a white cord that attached to a red button. When he pressed it he became a golden blur as he shifted twenty feet in another direction. Pressing the button again and reappeared back where he was, all in the span of a fracton of a secound. "Phase shift," he stated.

"I got my ride," Imp said, wrapping her arms around Purity's neck before she took off the ground. "Just so long as she doesn't think about German blimps, she should be fine."

"And you're our ride," Cheshire said, walking up to me with Flower Knight. The two of them and my dad along with that armour was going to be difficult, but I could lift one or two of them with my magic for a bit if I needed a break.

"You forget about me?" Shadow Stalker asked, adopting a slightly annoyed tone.

"Sorry, we had this planned out ahead of time edge lord," Imp said. "Should have brought your own ride."

"My phase shift can affect two people," Ergo said as he adjusted a dial on his gear. "Take my hand and we can go. And Biohazard? Remember you have two hours of flight time at cruising speed before your fuel source needs to be refilled so go easy on the throttle."

"Oh, you're no fun." Biohazard said. She glanced at Purity and asked, "Wanna race? I'll bet my liver against yours."

Ergo sighed.

"Let's get going, we have a long trip ahead of us," I said, taking off into the air with a burst of speed. Purity and Biohazard began to fly after me, Biohazard leaving a smoke trail. A few moments later Ergo and Shadow Stalker began blinking down the highway with periodic bursts of golden light. I smiled as I shot off in the direction of Boston so fast I heard my dad yelp.

A/N: The name Desh is a reference to the city of Deshnoke.

Also, this chapter may contain trace amount of FRIENDSHIIIIIIP


	36. Chapter 36

We stopped at a truck stop for lunch. It was a surprisingly nice place, with a large sitting area with two microwaves, a toaster oven, a large tv, and several vending machines on top of a back room for traveling truckers to do their laundry. It made for a nice place to stop and get some lunch at.

I elected to stay outside, as I really didn't want to shock anyone inside with my presence. Shadow Stalker, Ergo, and Biohazard both decided to stay behind with me as I found a shady tree to sit under and rest my wings. It had almost been two hours and my wings were absolutely throbbing from the weight of my three passengers. I took out a vigor potion and slurped it down before taking a magic one for good measure.

Biohazard took out her fuel tanks, large cylinders she was keeping in her shoulder blade area, and handed them to Ergo who immediately took out a toolkit and started fiddling with them. Biohazard walked over to a picnic table and opened her arm up and began doing some repairs on her thrusters. Shadow Stalker sat down on the grass as looked like she might fall asleep with her back against the tree. Purity decided she was going to stay as high as she could to avoid attention. Leaving Cheshire, Desh, and Flower Knight to disappear inside and shock some truck stop attendant.

"So Ergo," I began in an attempt to start a conversation. "You were a villain first right?"

"Yes,' he answered simply.

"Right," I said slowly. "And what do you think about being a hero then?"

"I don't really mind," Ergo answered. "So long as I get a lab to continue my studies I don't care what I'm called."

"So why become a villain in the first place?" I asked. "It seems like a lot more work."

"Well, I didn't have much of a choice," Ergo answered. He lifted up the fuel cell and started to adjusted something on the bottom of it. "Biohazard has always been a little... misunderstood. And when she got her powers, no one really got the gravity of how badly she wanted to improve herself. The two of us were in trouble with the law before I even understood what was happening."

"Oh," I said. So Biohazard was the only reason he had become a villain at all? I guess I could understand that, but there were just some things about Biohazard I found rather unnerving. I decided to change the subject.

"So, your power," I started. "You said you wanted a closer look at The Sentient Kinder gas, but shouldn't your power already tell you how it works?"

"My power tends to be really good with 'how does' questions, but not so well with 'what is'," he answered. "I understand that Kinder gas works by releasing a dense combustible gas cloud, but I don't know what compounds they're using to create the gas. I don't know what release mechanism they use on the canisters that allows the can to stay sealed. But for all I know, they could be taking the first steps toward reproducing Tinker tech."

"Reproducing Tinker tech?" I asked.

"A running theory I've been working on," Ergo said, setting aside the fuel canister and standing up to pace. "I've been trying to understand the barrier between Tinker tech and normal tech for as long as I've had my power and I've made some significant strides."

"So what's the theory?"

"Good question," Ergo said with a clap of his hands, his tone suddenly shifting from his calm demeanor to excited. "Counter question, do you understand how research and development works?"

"Not really," I answered honestly.

"Simple really," Ergo said with a wave of his hand. "A scientist picks an area of study and spends their entire life studying and experimenting with it. They pick up interns and apprentices they teach everything they know along the way, and when the scientist retires or otherwise the next person in line picks up the slack. Scientific advancement is a several generation effort spanning across the globe. Scientists that branch off into new areas of study only ever get the low hanging fruit of the new area else they are particularly brilliant. But past that is could take generations to actually make progress after that. And that is only half the story!" Ergo declared with a raised finger.

"In something amazing like, say air travel, you have whole teams of engineers for the plane engines alone. And then maybe even a hundred more to build the rest of the plane and all its parts. And that is just normal flight let alone something as complex as space travel! Tinker powers are shoving the innovation of several generations of combined global research into a single person with the amalgamated talents of entire teams of engineers.

"Bur of course, if that were true," Ergo spun around to face me as he had paced several feet in the other direction. "Then someone with the right amount of intelligence could conceivably discover the processes that makes Tinker tech work by slowly gaining more and more of an understanding of how its basic functions work!"

He held his hands up in an impressive pose when he seemed to realize he had run out of things to say. Having once again paced several feet away from me, he spun around with his hands still in the air as if to see if I was impressed at all. I heard clapping behind me and looked to see Biohazard clapping one bone hand against a flesh covered one while giggling.

"Wow," Imp said as she popped into existence next to me. "You are a giant nerd."

"It's the age of the geek," he answered, dropping his hands and offering a light smile. "And you try not being excited about science when you are probably the only person in the world with a thorough understanding of quantum mechanics and gravity."

"You still don't know what an electron is," Cheshire said, approaching us with several sub sandwiches in hand, Flower Knight walking next to her with all the chips in hand.

"That's your job," Ergo countered.

"Have you two discovered the origins of the universe yet?" Imp asked dryly.

"Oh don't be silly," Ergo said. "We discovered that only three hours into our first conversation."

"Black holes reaching punching the through the fabric of space and time into other universes to create white holes that made the Big Bang and what not," Cheshire said with a wave of her hand. "Not all that important, really."

"You two are kind of weird," Biohazard said, walking up and plucking a sandwich from Cheshire's arm before opening her mouth to about three times the size it should have been and eating the sandwich whole. Including the plastic it was wrapped in.

Most of us rolled our eyes.

Purity came down from the sky and joined us, my father coming back from the truck stop a few moments later. We then spent about twenty minutes just eating and conversing. It was nice to take a break from things for as short as time as it was. As a group, we all meshed surprisingly well together. In a larger conversation Imp and Purity shot back and forth with my father and Cheshire. Biohazard had a habit of asking if something morally dubious was an okay thing to do which tended to elicit different responses from everyone as to what was and wasn't acceptable. But then Flower Knight start talking with Biohazard about possible ways for them to combine their powers, which got Cheshire interested, which got Ergo excited, which lead to a four-way conversation combining biokinesis, Biohazard's specialty, and various complex sciences that left every other person here really confused.

I edged towards them and, just to see what would happen, I said,

"Think about putting magic circuits in the creations."

About five minutes later Cheshire and Ergo had crippling Thinker headaches.

The rest of us were able to enjoy a much slower conversation up until the time we decided it was time to leave.

Arriving at Boston we ran into our first issue; The Sentient wasn't active in this city.

On top of the fact that we didn't have Will's insight on structures here, although Cheshire and Ergo said they would work very similar to Brockton Bay, they weren't out in the open for us to interrogate. Which would have left me at a wall, but thankfully I had much smarter people with me.

We all landed on top of a skyscraper to discuss it, with me lifting Ergo and Shadow Stalker with my magic to bring him with us.

"We have a few options," Cheshire said. "The Sentient had spent years beforehand in Brockton Bay preparing traps like those holes for Hookwolf. Ergo and I could Think about the different threats in the city and how normal humans might fight them, and then we could investigate each possibility and hope we get lucky."

"Or," Ergo said, "We can head to the PRT and root out their moles to see if they know anything. But they typically don't know much about the main operations. We'd get a few names at best."

"Boston is the main city the operate out of," Cheshire said, putting a hand to her chin thoughtfully. "They probably have some capes in the local Protectorate they haven't cut ties with completely. That is also an option."

"All of those sound really time consuming with no real guarantee of working," Desh said.

"And stupidly boring too," Shadow Stalker said. "I thought we were going actually do something, not just snoop around."

"Well, there is another option," Ergo said slowly.

"We can go to Accord," Cheshire explained. "He is a Thinker villain in the city, the Thinker protocols would actually put them on his radar. The blind spots in his operation would be pretty alarming to him."

"Only issue," Ergo said. "Is that he might be extremely offended by your very existence." Ergo and Cheshire stared at me and heard Imp snicker somewhere behind me.

"What?" I demanded. "I know I'm a little strange but hate my existence? Isn't that just a little excessive."

"It is just the way he is," Cheshire said. "But it is up to you, what do you want to do?"

I was thrown off by the way she asked me, and then I realized that everyone was staring at me. They were waiting for directions, I realized. From me.

When did I become the leader of this group? I mean, I knew I was probably the strongest and most versatile here, but that didn't mean anything. Cheshire and Ergo were smarter, Purity had more experience, my father had been in charge of people for years, Shadow Stalker…. Alright maybe she wasn't as qualified, but even Biohazard had more experience than I.

It really struck me right there that I've only been doing this for a couple of weeks. A month or two at best, I wasn't keeping very good track. Yet I had done so much in that time that made it feel like it had been longer.

"Why are you looking at me?" I asked weakly, nervousness sinking into my stomach.

"Well, you are the one that brought us together, in a sense," Ergo stated. Cheshire nodded in agreement.

"Yeah," she said. "You helped me escape Coil, I learned that by the way, you gave Flower Knight there an escape from her increasing dysfunctional family and gave her a reason to not self-destruct at her job, Desh is only in it to help you, Purity and Imp came to you for help against these people, and Shadow Stalker has a strength fetish."

"Hey, you-"

"Point is," Cheshire interrupted her. "Ergo and his sister are the only ones here that you didn't directly help or give a reason to come along. You're in charge by default, you also make a great mascot."

I hung my head and sighed. Even if I could argue that logic, I was sure Cheshire would have a counter for everything I said. But there was a strange feeling of… being pleased by being in charge. I could do this, I was sure of it.

"Alright," I said. "Cheshire, why don't you make a list of all the different ways you can think The Sentient might fight the local threats and give it to Purity and Imp to investigate. Desh, can you walk around town in your civilian identity and use your rats to search all the warehouses and otherwise to see if you can find something?" He nodded.

* * *

A/N: So I went out of my way to pre-write some of the chapters for the next couple of days so I could take a break from this and work a little on my other projects. Which is why I posted this second chapter today, to give those projects some shameless self-promotion.

The Paranorms is a more OC heavy story, but stays pretty close to canon events. A girl named Riza triggers during the Leviathan attack with the ability to give life anime physics. She befriends Skitter and joins the Undersiders for a bit.

The Story of Night is actually the first story I had ever written, starting several ago when I was a very, very, _very_ bad writer and now I'm re-doing it with the skills I've acquired since. It is a RWBY fic with Ruby as the main character, but she encounters an OC named Nox with more than a few dysfunctional behaviours. With the introduction of gods I attempt to slowly upheave and explain how to RWBY world functions in a cohesive way.

Thank you all for reading and please at least check those other fics out to see if they interest you!


	37. Chapter 37

The woman behind the desk disappeared the moment I entered, Cheshire and Flower Knight behind me. It wasn't that hard to find Accord, surprisingly. Cheshire made short work of it after we learned Accord actually wanted to see us.

The woman came back looking a little shaken and said,

"Accord is ready to see you." I nodded to her and entered the door she indicated with a hand. Cheshire shot her a smile as we walked past her.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to expect from Accord, but the businessman persona he had was oddly fitting for him. He was standing at the windows of his office, looking out with his arms crossed angrily. Flower Knight came into the room last, the door swinging closed behind her. As soon as the door had clicked shut Accord spoke.

"Why are you in Boston and how soon can you leave?"

I looked at Cheshire, prepared for her to answer, but she nudged me and nodded. From what she told me about Accord he probably wanted me to speak because I was technically the leader now.

"We're hunting down members of The Sentient that are in this city, we'll leave once we've taken them out."

Accord took a deep breath and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I can point you in the right direction, for a price." He turned around and approached his desk. He pulled out the chair and sat down, grabbing a stylized fountain pen and a piece of paper.

"What price?" I asked.

"One," Accord stated. "You leave this city once you're done and never come back. Two, you destroy The Sentient presences= here. Three, try not to destroy the city as you do so."

"Your power isn't working." Cheshire suddenly said, a grin spreading across her face. Accord's mask shifted slightly to reflect an eye twitch.

"It isn't working in the same capacity," Accord said vaguely. "Don't mistake it for not working at all."

"Why isn't his power working," I asked Cheshire. She opened her mouth but Accord cut her off.

"Because of you Nova. You presence threw off Thinker perceptions across the city. You break many Thinker powers with this chaotic mist you carry with you. The sooner you're done here, the better."

"Alright," I said seriously. My magic throwing off Thinkers wasn't anything new, but the fact it was affecting the city was somewhat surprising. Although, that could just be a particular kind of Thinker. "Then tell us what you know."

"I'm writing a list of all The Sentient bases, storage, and front companies in the city. I'll have my assistant at the front desk bring you a file containing all the names and faces I've collected on members. But I'll warn of two things." Accord paused and looked up at us seriously. "Those front companies belong to a real company somewhere in Boston, but the closer I go to finding out the harder it became to use my power on it. It was a very similar kind of power negation you bring. Secondly, those bases and names I'm giving you are very low priority to The Sentient here. Once again, the closer I got to the upper ranks and critical locations in the city they power masking effect got stronger."

I looked at Cheshire, but she frowned and shook her head.

"Adkins, probably." She said.

"My thoughts exactly," Accord said. "Whoever this 'Adkins' is, he needs to be eliminated. I'm beginning to think Ragnarok might not be far off in terms of a name."

Accord lifted up the piece of paper and I grabbed it with my magic, floating it into my saddlebags.

"Now," he said. "Get out of my office before you give me a headache."

***

I waited for people to start screaming before I moved to assist. I used my telekinesis to rip open the front doors of the building, a disused office space. People were screaming and shouting as they attempted to kill the rats they were getting swarmed with. The great irony of it all was that the more rats they killed the more rat projections Desh would able to make for the next couple hours on top of the base fifty he was able to maintain. And seeing as how most of the rats were already the black projections, they had killed a lot.

I grabbed the people in the lobby with my magic and hoisted them off the ground. I then forced the elevator doors open and found that three gunmen inside one office elevator. I crushed their guns and picked them up off the floor.

"Desh," Cheshire asked, astride my back. "What is it looking like?"

"You got a dozen men disabled in the sewers below." He answered through the open line all of us were sharing. "I'm moving in on them now. There are people stuck on the floors above, moving towards the roof."

"These people don't know anything," Cheshire told me. "Let's fly up and head them off at the top." I nodded silently and turned to run out the door, throwing The Sentient members into one big pile just as the rat surged towards them again. The police will be here soon, probably.

I decided to skip the flight and run and just teleport straight into the sky, then reorienting myself towards the correct roof just as Sentient members were crawling out onto it. I turned in the air and shot downward at them, slamming into the roof on all four hoofs.

They froze and looked at me. I straightened up and spread out my wings. Slowly, they set their guns on the ground and raised their hands.

"That one," Cheshire said, reaching past my face and pointing at someone. "The one with the bad goatee." I zero in on him, picking him up with my magic and then starting to fly upward with him in tow. I didn't waste my energy pulling him up as high as we could go, the building was high enough. Holding him loosely, I asked,

"What do you know that a stain on the ground wouldn't?"

The man swallowed. Ha, who needs swearing?

"I know the name of my superior." He tried. I rolled my eyes.

"Why is that the first thing you all try? Give it another go."

"Okay, I, um, I know the name of a Messenger."

"That isn't much. How about the location you were trained at?"

"Yes! Its underground place on the outside of town. Underneath a large government building that isn't being used. I don't know the address but-"

"That's enough," Cheshire said. "I got it."

I started floating him back downwards as Cheshire spoke to the others.

"Flower Knight, Shadow Stalker, how are things?"

"We ran into the Boston Wards," Flower Knight responded. "They've been helping us work down Accord's list of people and places. We've hit about twice as many as we thought we could have, but we haven't learned anything." There was some murmuring and a loud bang of a gun on the other end for a moment before she added, "And I think Shadow Stalker is having fun taunting the people into looking like idiots. It is actually really creepy."

"Right," Cheshire responded. "Keep doing that, Nova, Desh, and I have found where one of their training locations are. Imp and Purity, you ready?"

"Whenever you're ready," Purity answered.

"Ergo, Biohazard?"

"We're a little busy with some Sentient on the other side of town," Ergo answered. Suddenly Biohazard giggled madly into her mic.

"Biohazard, put that guy down!" Ergo demanded. There was a pause. "I'm going to have deal with this, I'm sure you can handle whatever it is on your own."

"Alright," Cheshire said. "Then everyone but Ergo and his sister, head to the north end of town, we'll have rooted out the main base of The Sentient out by the end of the day.

***

"Mr. Archer," Anderson asked. Archer was standing at the window, looking out over the city. The effects of these out of town capes were more than obvious, with the destructive power of Purity's blasts being the most conspicuous. Archer took a sip of the amber liquid before asking his assistant,

"What is the situation?"

"They came out of nowhere," Anderson said. "Without warning they start attacking most of our operations throughout the city. They've targeted the traps for the local threats and sometimes specific people they shouldn't know about. We suspect a Thinker but luckily our protocols have protected the most crucial people."

"How long do we have?" Archer asked.

"Sir?"

"How long until they find their way here?"

"... We don't know sir. We hope we can stave them off completely, but we're not sure."

Archer took a deep breath followed by a deep drink.

"Then fuck it," he said, throwing his glass on the ground. "Lock this building down and order all Sentient to go active. Every last one."

"Mr. Archer," Anderson protested. "We don't have any of the opportunities that allowed it to work in Brockton Bay, attempting to-"

"I believe I said 'fuck it' Anderson!" Archer shouted. "I simply don't care anymore. I want every last Sentient member across the country doing their duty to the cause. And no playing softball either, I want as many villains killed in as short a time as possible. Full genocide of the scum. I want bombs in all the PRT buildings. Assassinate the corrupt government officials that run them. In the next few hours I want Boston, New York, Houston, Las Vegas, Portland, Seattle, St. Louis, and Atlanta to be cleansed for better or worse. Then we'll see how this horse magics that problem away."

"... As you wish sir." Anderson turned around and left the room, leaving Archer alone. He walked over to his private bar and made himself a new glass of scotch. With it in hand, he went back to the window and began to drink as he watched Nova fly across the sky in the distance as the lockdown shields slowly shut over the windows.

"Just a few more hours," Archer said. "I wish I actually cared about the outcome."

***

A/N: Accord, like Cheshire, was able to find a way to learn the two halfs of the passcode separately, letting him know Adkins and Ragnarok are both part of it.

And just in case any one is going to complain about it, Archer's spiteful attempt to cause as much damage as possible before going down is doomed to fail pretty hard. They might get some people, but not nearly as much as BB.


	38. Chapter 38

"This is the place," Cheshire said. We, as in every one of us, were standing in front of one of the largest buildings in the city. More than just a skyscraper, it was a towering multi-level building that not only took up the whole block with its scale but also had bridges that connected it to buildings across the street. On each side of it, massive letters displayed the large name and symbol of 'Cornucopia, The Capital of Research and Development.'

The streets of the city were empty. Apparently, this Archer ordered The Sentient to go active across the country, to kill as many as possible. The Boston Protectorate and Wards had left to do some crowd control, and the villains of the city were actually working together at a moment's notice to deal with it. We wouldn't know how successful The Sentient were going to be, especially on a nationwide scale, for a while. But for now, we had Archer cornered.

"Cornucopia?" I asked. "I've never heard of it."

"That isn't that surprising," Ergo said. "It likes to work through proxy companies it owns. It was started by a family that made a fortune making munitions for World War one and two. After that, it branded itself as an institution for scientific research, but it has been doing much more than that."

"Basically," Cheshire said. "They've been getting a foot in the door of every industry there is for the last forty years. Restaurants, movies, gyms, private schools, coffee shops, toys, clothing, electronics, soda, farms, land development, and on and on and on. You pick an industry, Cornucopia can be found there somewhere."

"If we are going to be breaking in, I need to get to their research," Ergo said.

"We aren't here to sightsee," Purity said. "No matter how impressive their research is."

"You don't understand," Ergo said, turning to her. "I need to get access to their research. It could advance my studies years ahead of its current place. Cornucopia purchases Tinker for billions of dollars but refuses to employ a single one. They have been doing what I've been trying to do with my power since before I was born. If we go in there, I can't not get into their computers."

"Relax," Cheshire said. "If we go by the lead scientist's office we can stop by."

"Good, good," Ergo muttered as he excitedly began to adjust controls on his gear. I looked over at Purity and Imp. They nodded to me. I looked the other way where Desh, Cheshire, Ergo, Biohazard, and Shadow Stalker were standing.

"Desh? You getting anything?" I asked. My dad shook his head.

"No rats inside," he answered. "Only what I brought with me." I nodded and looked back at Cheshire, silently asking her what we should do next.

"Going in from a few directions would probably be best," she said. "Purity and Imp can take the roof entrance. Ergo, Biohazard, and Desh could find an underground or back way in. Us along with Flower Knight and Shadow Stalker could go in through the front doors."

"Alright," I said. "Everyone do that and meet up right here in three hours if it even takes that long."

Their response came when they began to move. Purity and Imp took off into the sky and Desh directed Biohazard to a sewer grate. I took a step forward but Cheshire stopped me by putting a hand on my side.

"Nova," she said. "You need to know before going in that my power isn't working properly."

"What?" I asked, alarmed.

"It is like Accord described," she said with a frown. "The whole building is this gap in my power, redirecting me away every time I try to focus on it. I can still use my power, but only on myself. If was firing a gun or something I could guess how to hold it and what not, but past that I just can't."

"So basically," Shadow Stalker said with a hint of annoyance. "You're useless."

"Shut up," Flower Knight told her angrily.

"This isn't that much of a problem," I said. "It doesn't change anything. Let's get moving, we can solve any problems ourselves."

"If you say so," Shadow Stalker added disdainfully. Flower Knight took several steps away from her. I decided it would probably be better if we got moving sooner rather than later.

***

Breaking into the place was… odd. At first it was interesting, I broke through a three inch steel door with a liberal application of magic, Shadow Stalker took out some gun men with her tranquilizing darts, Flower Knight created a counter agent to some nerve gas that flooded the hallways, Cheshire warned us of turrets, bombs, and hiding men moments before we encountered them, and a handful of other things like that. But after a time, it left me feeling a little disappointed when it began to be more like clockwork than an actual fight. Sure, it all made logical sense for this to be the setup as only the strongest Brutes and the luckiest of people could work through the threats we were facing, but the people weren't changing. They weren't adapting to us, and it was concerning me.

On the other hand, it let me have conversation with Cheshire as she rode on top of my back through all of this.

"So," I began as I crushed another automated turret system with my magic "What was Ergo's deal with getting his hands on this place's research?" In retrospect, what Ergo wanted to do was some pretty massive corporate theft, but I didn't have much sympathy for the company that created The Sentient.

"Well," Cheshire began before suddenly jumping off my back and darting the edge of another turn, grabbed the barrel of a gun and yanking out the gunman from that hallway. She struck him once in the back of the head and he fell to the ground unconscious.

"You remember his speech about the barrier between Tinkers and normal science?" She asked.

"I think so, the one where he said Tinkers shove generations of work and talents into one machine of their own design?"

"That's the one, and Ergo has been using his power to try and prove it." Cheshire climbed back onto my back as we went down the sprawling hallways. It was generally safer that way, as I could throw up a force field fast if there was something she didn't catch quite fast enough. And with the maze of this entire building coupled with all the repeated redundancies defenses, there tended to be an alarming amount of those.

I did a quick mental check of my magic levels. I wasn't even tired yet which meant I was above at least half of my full strength. It didn't take much to deal with these, there just was a lot of it.

"How does that work?" I asked, shooting a beam of concentrated telekinetic force through the men that were coming down a crossway hall with reinforced riot shields.

"Like he said earlier today, his power works really well when he can ask 'how does X work' but not so much when he needs to ask 'what is X'. So when attempting to replicate Tinker technology he often runs into terms and concepts he doesn't understand. His power lets him work through it eventually, but it is a slow process and he isn't just interested in getting things that simply works."

She hopped off my back again and pulled out a tiny metal ball from one of the pockets on her utility belt, giving it a toss with her fakes Brute powers behind it. It shot through a vent and jammed the nerve gas dispenser before it even got started.

"I don't think I follow," I said.

"Alright, let me try this again." She said with a frown. "All the tech Ergo is wearing and working with it incredibly low-level Tinker tech, only supplemented by the fact he has all kinds of it working together at once. And the reason it is all so low is because when he started he only answers he had to 'what is' questions are what current human science has discovered. From that small seed of knowledge and liberal use of his power, he has been working out every single aspect of the Tinker tech he wears. If he had enough time, he could conceivably get to the top tier Tinker stuff and he would be better than Dragon because he has a fundamental knowledge of everything he is working with. On the macro scale, micro, subatomic, and sometimes fourth dimensional.

"But what makes it all really special is that he is charting it out," she continued, taking out yet another generic threat. "He has thirty-two volumes in the biggest three-ring binders available full of his incredibly well structured and detailed notes on how he has been bridging our known science to Tinker science, and that is just with the Tinker 2 tech he has. If he were to release those note today all out tech would advance decades. And he plans on spending his entire life working on expanding those notes before he releases them."

"I don't think you've answered my question," I said, a little light-heartedly as I disabled a few more random minions. "Why was he so excited about Cornucopia's information?"

"Don't you see?" Cheshire asked. "This company has been trying to do exactly what Ergo has been doing, except without powers and with no real limit on resources to pull from. He wants to know if they know more than him, if money can outdo his power, or if they simply have saved him time by exploring different aspects of Tinker tech than he has. This place is the closest thing he is going to have to a wet dream."

"Alright, maybe that is a little too much," I said jokingly. Cheshire shot me a vulpine grin before kicking a guy in the throat with a level of acrobatics I don't recall seeing from her before.

"Too much for your PG-13 rating?" She asked. Suddenly Shadow Stalker fell in front of our path, her hand putting pressure on a bullet wound in her leg. She lifted up a crossbow and shot at some unknown assailant down the hall before turning into a shadow right before more bullets shot through her body.

Put up a shield and poked my head down the hallway. A moment later, there were six more unconscious men lying prone amid crushed guns. I floated out a healing potion to Shadow Stalker, who took it somewhat suspiciously, but accepted it anyway to heal her wound. I was going to have to get Panacea to look her over to make sure there wasn't a bullet still trapped inside her.

"Hey," Cheshire asked. "Where is Flower Knight.

"I'm here," her voice said from behind us. We turned and saw Flower knight standing in the hallway with three massive wooden tendrils extending out her back.

"Holy crap," Shadow Stalker said, somewhat surprisingly. "When did you find some edge?" Flower Knight shrugged at her.

"Where did you get the material for that?" I asked as I stared at the large vines.

"I've, um, been taking it from people's excess body fat and muscle as we go along."

I paused for a moment and considered that, but I guess it wasn't the creepiest thing to happen recently. Or to happen at all for that matter.

"Alright," I said with a nod. "I don't think we need all four of us for this floor. So Flower Knight, Shadow Stalker, why don't you two head upwards, Cheshire and I will keep searching here and maybe come find you again later."

"Fine by me," Shadow Stalker answer.

"We're on it," Flower Knight said with a nod before turning the other way, tendrils and Shadow Stalker right behind her. I looked at Cheshire to see which way she wanted to do now. These hallways left plenty of options.

She gave a smile and moved to climb onto my back, which I let her do, before pointing one particular direction.

We ended up walking in that same direction for a good fifteen minutes before we started seeing signs. The signs were for various things like a food court or otherwise, but the one that caught our eye was for this floor's Research and Development team.

We worked our way in that direction, destroying all the same setbacks that were put in our way. Once again, I was struck by the oddness of the surprising lack of innovation on their part. Sure, if the first time didn't get us that doesn't mean we wouldn't get it the second or third time. But if we've beaten the same thing fifty times over then maybe it was time to adopt a new strategy.

Cheshire slid off my back and darted into the room as soon as got to the entrance of it. Walking in behind her, I found it was a very generic lab for the most part. There did appear to be a Tinker device pulled apart into its most base components lying on one of the tables, but past that it was just a lab with a lot of science equipment I didn't know the first thing about.

Cheshire disappeared into a back room, leading me to follow her with mounting curiosity. She had found a computer and was already sitting at it, her hands flying over the keyboard as fast as she could make them move.

"You think you'll be able to remember all of the information Ergo wants?" I asked. If her power was working in the building, I probably would have trusted it to help her. But with that not working like it should, it was kind of up in the air as to how it would actually work one we left.

"I won't need to," Cheshire answered. "Ergo gave me a handful of flash drives he designed, can store everything he needs and more. And this computer only has the files for this floor's particular branch of research. I'll only need five minutes then we can be on our way."

"Alright," I concede. "I'll just go watch the door then." Cheshire nodded to me silently and kept working. I shrugged and headed back out, I could at least entertain myself a bit while I waited.

Walked back out into the hallway and saw it was empty. Trotting down it did reveal any more people. It was when I started walking back towards Cheshire that I realized my mistake.

Suddenly, thick metal doors began slamming shut on all hallways, the beginnings, middles, and ends of each one. I started running back towards Cheshire, reaching out with my magic to hit the doors, when the floor suddenly fell out from underneath me and all the lights in the building cut out, plunging me into eternal darkness.

I had trouble righting myself in the air as I fell downward, breaking through flooring that was clearly set to collapse when anything weighing much hit it. One of my wings got caught a jagged piece of metal somewhere along the way, causing a bit of blood to start gushing out of it.

I had shot through four floors before I finally hit something that didn't immediately collapse. The first thing I did was reach into my bag and pull out a healing potion and slurped it down as fast as I could.

The second thing I did was look around by the light of my horn. I was in some sort of basement like area, with smooth grey concrete walls and floor. All the lights were still out, and the hum of air fans and air conditioners had cut out. This place being as big as it is I can only imagine how important air flow might be. I decided it would be better to get moving sooner or later.

Guided only by the light of my horn, I wandered through the hallways. Every now and then a floor would fall apart when I walked on it or there would be a bomb and/or turret that would pop up and I would have to disable it somehow. It was just like before, only ten times more discouraging as I was separated from my friends and alone in a massive dark building.

Suddenly, I heard sobbing. It was male in tone, more one of pain than sadness. Cautious of another trap, I walk forward careful with the light of my horn as dim as possible. I found the source just around the corner of another branching hallway. I silently ducked low and peeked around, my light so low it was practically invisible.

I saw Biohazard, by herself, standing over a man with his chest pulled open as Biohazard pulled out his organs.

"Please," the man whimpered.

"Hush now," Biohazard said. "You don't need these, and I'm giving you better ones too. Little micro-organs that can do the same job. And there is only a thirty percent chance your body will reject them."

I walked around the corner and slammed my hoof against the concrete floor, letting the light of my horn flare up.

"Biohazard," I demanded. "What are you doing?"

"Oh hi Nova," Biohazard answer cheerfully. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be several floors up."

"It doesn't matter," I snapped. "What are you doing to him?"

"Oh him?" Biohazard asked. "I'm just taking some things I need. He isn't really in pain or going to be seriously hurt. Brother said that is why people are scared of what I do, they think I'm going to hurt them. But I would never do that, I promise!" She gave a mock salute with one hand and start pulling out some unidentifiable organ.

"Biohazard, stop," I demanded. She shot me a confused look, as her mask had fallen off, but didn't stop working.

"Why," she asked. "I need to do this for my work."

"Because you can't just take parts of people!"

"But yes I can?" Biohazard said, sounding increasingly more confused. "I'm doing it right now."

"Biohazard if you don't stop I'm going to-"

"Command 1101!"

I looked up and saw Ergo standing at the other end of the hall, a frown etched deeply into his face. I looked back at Biohazard and say that she was completely frozen.

"Biohazard," Ergo said as he began to walk closer. "Stop taking people's organs and fix this man."

Biohazard face was blank as she began doing as he said. I watched with uncomfortable uneasiness as she put everything back where it belonged and closed him up. When she was finished, she stood up and stayed completely still.

Ergo took a deep breath and sighed.

"Biohazard," he said. "Go find Desh and then forget everything that happened in the last twenty minutes. Then return to normal."

"O...kay….brother." She said in a daze before turning on her heels and walking down the hallway.

"What. The. Heck. Was that?" I asked through grit teeth. Ergo swallowed and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Please don't ask that question Nova." He requested softly.

"Ergo, that looked a lot like mind control," I said seriously.

"It is more complicated than that." He said.

"Ergo!" I demanded. "Are you mind controlling Biohazard?"

"You don't understand. That is just how her mind works." He hissed.

"Her mind lets you control her."

"Nova," he said. "Don't push me on this, don't ask me why or how because you won't stand the answer. You won't be able to stop yourself from acting on it. Just know that Cheshire didn't want to tell you, and there is a reason for that." He turned around and started walking away, but he stopped after just a few feet.

"You might think you can help with this, whatever the problem is," Ergo said. "But some problems are more complicated than your magic is capable of fixing. Please, just let it go." With that, Ergo continued down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

I glanced at the man sitting against the wall. He was unconscious. I thought about hitting him with the healing spell, but Biohazard could have left any amount of Tinker tech inside of him. And since he wasn't bleeding, I was guessing that was likely the case. If I hit him with the healing stuff I could only do more damage.

I sighed and made a mental note to check him out later, make sure Biohazard didn't do anything lasting. For now, I had something else to direct my focus to.


	39. Chapter 39

I decided to make the rest of the trip by myself, but things were different. I was annoyed Ergo wouldn't explain what that was, I was irritated with all the things Archer was throwing at us, I annoyed that he had separated me from Cheshire, and I was concerned because he had ordered Sentient attacks across the country before we came in.

I was frustrated, and I was tired of taking the slow path.

Looking upward, I put all the telekinetic pushing force into one small beam and fired it. It ripped through the ceiling of this basement and it tore through the ceiling above it. I grabbed all the debris out of the air before it could fall on me and violently flung it back, further widening the hole as I did.

I shot upwards, flying past the floors and ripping the building open even more as I did so until I got to the floor I had left Cheshire on. My wing screamed in pain from the injury I sustained before. I quickly took another healing potion to dull the pain and start moving back through the hallways. This time, I was knocking down walls to get where I needed to go.

Expanding my magic outward, I was able to feel the building around me. I could make out the guns and bombs and other tech that was placed in my way but ignored them. I was really only interested in finding Cheshire.

I pulled out a potion to increase my magic and started blasting down walls around me as I flew forward. Anyone that was around got blasted with my kinetic beam and probably knocked unconscious or at least in mobile.

I found Cheshire several hallways away from where I had left her, grappling with three men who all had lost their guns at some point in the fight. Using my raw magic feeling to guide me, I picked up the three of them while I was on the other side of the wall and threw them aside. A moment later, I shot down the wall and came out into the hallway to greet Cheshire.

"Nova," she said with a relieved sigh. "Glad you made it back."

"Cheshire," I said sternly, a frown overtaking my face. "Why is Ergo able to control Biohazard."

She opened her mouth to respond and then stopped, as if unsure of what to say. She quirked her mouth a moment and then asked me,

"How much do you know?"

"I know that he took control of Biohazard and made her put the man she was attacking back together. He then ordered her to forget it ever happened. So why? Why is he able to mind control his sister?"

Cheshire took a deep breath. "I'm not one hundred percent sure, but I have my guesses. I think it is related to their trigger, but I can't be sure."

"Go on," I said sternly.

"I think something happened to Biohazard a long time ago, and Ergo needed to understand how her brain worked to correct it or something in that vein, Only when he corrected it, he tweaked some things so if Biohazard ever went too far, which you saw how she clearly will, he could stop her."

"Cheshire you-"

"Should have told you? Maybe. But we have some more important things to be dealing with right now. Can we save this conversation for when we're finished here? Please?"

I fixed her with a flat look. After a second, I took a deep breath and sighed. As much as I disliked letting this rest, we needed to get this done.

"Is there anything else of reasonable importance like this I need to know?" I asked.

"Define 'reasonable importance'."

"Cheshire," I warned.

"Fine, fine, Shadow Stalker is Sophia if you really want to know."

"... We are going to have a talk after this."

"Fair enough," Cheshire grimaced. I shook my head in annoyance. I was frustrated before, but hearing the Shadow Stalker, the once murder, was also Sophia Hess, the bully, made me a few shades more than frustrated. Now I was angry, and I really wanted to hit something.

"Cheshire," I said slowly. "Can you guess which way Archer's officer would be from here?"

"Well, I would guess it would be right in the middle of the place, probably up a couple of floors. But without my power, it's only a guess."

"Then climb on," I ordered as I charged my horn up for a much larger spell than I used normally. "Because I'm ready for this day to be over."

I managed to meet of with Purity on the way. She had found Theo with a whole bunch of other people in some sort of prison thing on the premises. She was working getting out of the building with him. And seeing how I wasn't caring for property damage anymore, she was able to expedite that process with a liberal application of her power.

About ten minutes after she had left us, I caught a strange part of the building with my power. A room surrounded by a good foot or more of steel surrounding it. Changing my course slightly, I broke down every wall between me and it.

Bursting into the hallway leading up to its door, I was surprised by how ordinary it seemed. It was made to look like it was just another hallway leading into what was labeled 'CEO's office'. The only thing odd about it was the thick metal door blocking the entrance.

There was a keypad on the side that Cheshire immediately went to, but that didn't yield anything immediately. Apparently another issue with her power. Frowning at the door, I began to focus my magic.

The way I had been using my magic to just burst through walls and people as well as the occasional teleport whenever I encounter a falling floor like before was really draining my magic. I had already taken several magic recovery potions since I got started, and for this I had to down my third. I only had two left, but hopefully, things would be easier once this was all said and done.

I let my magic flow out of my horn and spread out. It was slow going as the room didn't have any easy access for my magic to flow into it. Instead, I had to wait almost five minutes for it to start sinking through the steel shell like water through a sponge. But once it got going, I got a feeling for the mechanisms of the door.

My telekinesis, I found, was a lot more like using my hands than expected. I didn't need a line of sight so long as I had a general idea where the object was. Just like a person doesn't need a line of sight to reach blindly into a backpack for an object they know is there. But with the raw flow of my magic mapping out my surroundings and the inside mechanisms of door, my telekinesis was able to work at a much higher level.

Grabbing every single gear there was, I force them to turn. The first direction didn't push the door at all, so I made them turn the other way. The was a loud creak from the door as it resisted the push. I quickly found the problem, some sort of brake like thing holding the door in place. I ripped it open and the door instantly flew open in response.

The moment the door was falling, I felt a feeling of alarm shoot through me and immediately threw up a barrier. A gunshot rang out and struck my shield just a moment after it went up, protecting Cheshire form the blast. She looked up from the keypad, a little surprised, but quickly recovered and moved closer to me.

Inside was a single man holding a shotgun.

"Well," Archer said. "It was worth a shot."

Archer was a tall and skinny man. His hair was greasy like he hasn't showered in a couple of days and his clothes were stained with several different substances. He wore an uneven, grizzly beard like he simply forgot what shaving was. His eyes were sunken, sleep deprived, and bloodshot. The room had the overwhelming smell of alcohol and gasoline permeating it, and judging from his swaying, Archer was drunk.

This wasn't a CEO or terrorist plot mastermind. He looked more like a man trying to quit meth.

"Do me a favour," Archer said sullenly as he dropped the gun and lift a cigarette to his mouth. "Make sure you kill Adkins. He's locked in the basement, you'll find all the codes in my desk."

Archer held up a lighter, but instead of lighting his cigarette, he dropped it on the ground. Before I could react, he was covered in flames.

That's why the room smelled so much like alcohol and gas.

I wasn't sure what I was thinking, only that I had to stop this. Acting on pure instinct, magic rushed to my wings and formed a massive pair of ethereal wings that gripped the air as I flapped my real wings a single time. There was a massive blast of wind that didn't even appear to come from my wings and for a moment it seemed to blow the flames out. Then for a terrifying second, there wasn't any air in the room. I wasn't sure what I had done, but when I opened my mouth I couldn't speak. There was a loud bang and suddenly we were on the ground.

I wobbled a little as I attempted to stand back up, a disorienting feeling overtaking me coupled with a wave of magic exhaustion. Cheshire was climbing to her feet next to me, holding her head.

"Give a little warning before you turn the room into a vacuum next time," Cheshire said.

"Noted," I responded dryly. I rose completely off the ground and looked around for Archer. He was laying on the ground, his skin red and blistering in places. I suppose he was lucky he got off that easy.

I picked him up with my magic and held him in the air. He was still conscious, if looking incredibly depressed. I floated him over to me and forced him to look at me.

"What was that?" I demanded.

"Burning," he answered wistfully. "I was making it all burn. Burning. Burning. Burning."

I looked at Cheshire questioningly. She shook her head.

"I don't know," she answered. I shook my head and looked at him.

"Adkins," I said. "Explain."

"The basement," Archer said. "Always there, I put him there. Always. Can't ever go, would mean the end. Would be Ragnarok if he ever left. Only death, it's the only thing for Adkins. It must be done, you must do it."

"Show us," I said seriously. Archer's head rolled on his shoulder as he looked across the room.

"Private elevator, behind the bookshelf. I don't want to go down there, not anymore. Don't make me go, leave me behind. Kill Ragnarok, put an end to it all. Let him burn, burn and burn again."

"He isn't going to be much use if he can't be coherent," Cheshire said.

"Any idea what he is saying?" I asked. I had a few guesses, but I wanted to double check with Cheshire to make sure she was getting the same thing. Power or not, she was still pretty smart.

"I think he has Adkins locked up in the basement as a prisoner. He has been using him for this effect that has been stopping my and Accord's power."

"Then we need to go down there and see him," I stated. I wasn't sure what I would find, but he wouldn't have been the first person Archer had kidnapped and locked up. And maybe, just maybe, Adkins would help us. I couldn't be sure, but maybe.

"Give me a minute," Cheshire said, walking towards a large wooden desk on the other side of the room. "I'll get the things he was talking about." She slid into the swivel chair he had and started opening drawers and sorting through the paper. I shot Archer a look and pulled out some zip ties, securing him to the desk Cheshire was working on while I waited.

"Is this it?" I heard someone say. I looked up and saw Flower Knight, Shadow Stalker, and Imp coming into the room. I felt a flare of angry at the sight of Shadow Stalker, but this wasn't the time or place. Just another thing I was going to have to deal with when this was all over.

"Imp?" I asked, "I thought you would have left with Purity?"

Imp shrugged. "She left me with you, which both of you promptly forgot. So went and grabbed these two while you guys were working on the door. You passed each other a couple times but neither you four seemed to notice each other. You seem to be bad at that."

"Thanks," I said dryly.

"Don't mention it."

I rolled my eyes.

"Nova," Flower Knight asked. "This is Archer, right? That means it's over? We got him?"

"Almost," I said. "We still have one more thing to deal with, apparently."

"And let's not forget the following press release," Cheshire said with a grin, rising up from the desk with a stack of papers in her hand. "You all ready to talk with the apocalypse?"


	40. Chapter 40

Exactly how much security does a person need to put on someone they believe represents the end of the world itself? I wasn't sure, but I do know that I think this was a little excessive.

Four massive vault doors, all of which can not be opened until all the others are closed. Opening and closing the doors was a five minute process simply due to the vast amount of locks that had to be undone. In between, there were forty different voice commands, codes, and passwords that had to be entered, ten before each door. Bright blue scanners that were very clearly Tinker tech.

I guess hypocrisy was necessary if you thought you were locking away this kind of threat.

When the final vault door finally swung open the five of us were greeted with an odd sight.

It was a completely white room with a large pane of glass reinforced with metal bars cutting the room in two. On our side, there was nothing but a bunch of cameras pointing at the cage along with a small box built into the centre of the glass wall so things could be passed through the glass wall. On the other side of the wall was a fat old man sitting with his legs crossed on the floor.

His cell was completely empty except for a small toilet, a floor cushion that likely served as his bed, and the man himself had weights tied to each hand preventing him from lifting them higher than his shoulders.

"I suppose you must be the 'Nova' I've heard so much about." The elderly man said.

"And I guess that makes you Adkins Montgomery," I stated. His eyebrows shot up as he gave me a curious expression.

"I am surprised that you are able to know my name, your companions do not have that same pleasure. Of course, I should not be so shocked as you are clearly not like the others."

I looked at Cheshire and the others. Cheshire shook her head and frowned. The other three stayed silent. I looked back at Ragnarok and asked,

"What do you mean?"

Ragnarok shifted his position, causing his chains to rattle. He stroked his beard as he studied me.

"I can see your passenger," he said. "It does not inhabit you like it does all other capes. It struggles with some outside force, tries to control it. But I can see that the other force is learning from your passenger. It copies its best parts and performs them better. Whatever this outside force is, it is almost alive in the way it grows."

"You're power?" Cheshire asked, taking a few steps forward towards him. "How does it work?"

Ragnarok shrugged. "They call me the perfect power negator. Immune to precognition, clouds Thinkers, able to permanently remove a power with a single touch, a name that cannot even be remembered by any cape able to connect that name to my face. With you excepting of course."

"You what?" Flower Knight said, taking a step back.

"Relax," Ragnarok said, holding up his hands. "Should anything happen to the wall that separates us, the room will fill with acid to either drown or melt us alive. It would not be pleasant."

"How would you know that?" Imp asked, walking up to the glass. Much closer than the rest of us did. "Seems kind of dumb for the prisoner to know exactly what is keeping him in the cell."

"Archer like to ramble about his protocols," Ragnarok said dismissively. "I assume since you are here that you've either killed or captured him?"

"He killed himself before we could get to him," Cheshire answered quickly. I shot her a look, silently asking. She glanced at me and shook her head slightly. Was she testing him?

"I see," Ragnarok said with a sad nod. "Its funny, he had become increasingly unhinged over the years. He started spending more and more time down here, just talking to me. He styled me as the greatest evil in the world, but I wonder if it would be too presumptuous of me to think I was his only friend at the end."

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what, Nova?" Ragnarok responded innocently.

"Let's start with why you're in this cell," I asked dryly.

"Ah," he gave a nod, "now that is a story. Obviously, Archer put me in this cell after he captured me. Strange that he has only ever gone by his cape name since that day."

"You stole his power," Cheshire stated. Ragnarok nodded.

"Yes, it has been so long I can't even remember the reason I took it. But I did, and he swore he would catch me no powers needed. Which, I suppose he did."

"This is all your fault," I realized. "You're the reason he did everything he did."

"I suppose you could say that," Ragnarok admitted.

"Do you remember his power?" Cheshire asked.

"I can't ever forget a power I have taken from a person. Tell me, are the capes Legend and Alexandria still around?"

"Yes?"

"Well, you can think of him as the best parts of the two of them. He was on top of the world, distributing vigilante justice as he went. Hmm, maybe that was my reason?" He scratched his beard curiously as he began reminiscing. After a moment he shrugged and continued. "His cape name was Archer, that much I still remember. He never dropped it after he caught me. One night, after my first month in this cell, Archer came down and ranted at me. Yelled about how I took everything from him, how he would show me, and various other things. He wanted to show me that he could still be important without powers, as if I said he wasn't." Ragnarok laughed weakly. "He wanted an arch nemesis so bad he made me his enemy even after he had defeated me."

"He had a mental break down at the end," I mentioned to see what his reaction would be. I didn't quite know what to think of him. On one hand, he seemed like a kind old man, or a least was acting like it. On the other hand, the idea of someone who could permanently steal a power and couldn't be predicted by Thinkers was incredibly terrifying.

To certain people, he was the end of the world.

"I'm not surprised," Ragnarok said with a nod. "Archer was a walking contradiction."

"How do you mean?" Cheshire ask.

"He wanted to prove humanity could contend with capes, but had me here and used my name to make everything he did work," Ragnarok stated like it was obvious. "He could have had me remove the powers of those that triggered in his training programs, but he didn't because the idea of a person losing their powers was still his greatest fear. Even years after I stole his power. He made me out to be the root of all evil, but it was his focus on proving his point that made his wife leave him and all his friends abandoned. Everything he did was a contradiction, and it grated on him. It wore him down over the years and I was able to watch it happen. When he didn't have a family of friends anymore he simply stopped taking care of himself. He tells me how he was killing his company just to do this. He was at his wits end years ago, and then you come along a break the illusion he built around himself. It was only a matter of time."

"You talk a lot," Imp remarked. Ragnarok shrugged.

"You would too if Archer was the only man you have spoke to in years."

"So what are we supposed to do," Shadow Stalker said, forcing her way into the conversation. I looked at Cheshire, but she seemed just as lost as me.

"We could call the PRT…" She suggested weakly. I shook my head.

"I really don't want to think what they might do with him. He threatens every cape alive, and I don't think they'll send him to the Birdcage."

"They'll probably just kill me," Ragnarok said. "I would not blame them."

"Well, we can't take him with us," Flower Knight stated.

"If I might make a suggestion," Ragnarok stated as he stood up off the floor. "Would it be too much trouble to ask for you to kill me?"

I stared at him for a long moment, trying to process that request. After about a minute Ragnarok sighed.

"I am tired of being locked in a cage, only the scream in my mind to keep me company. And no matter who you give me to, I am doomed to the same fate. So if you can just do me a favour, and kill me."

"What?" I asked, suddenly alarmed. "A scream?"

He shrugged. "That ringing in your ears when you're in a really quiet room."

"I don't- how would we even do it if we even if we would?" I demanded.

"Well," Shadow Stalker said. "You could teleport in."

"Oh yeah," I said sarcastically. "I'll just teleport into the same room as the power stealer."

"To be fair," Ragnarok stated. "I have no reason nor any want to take your power. It doesn't exactly help me at all."

"Even if that could be trusted, I'm not a murder," I snapped at him.

"Then let me do it," Shadow Stalker said. I turned and looked at her harshly. She didn't back down under my gaze.

"Look," she explained. "I'm just giving the guy some mercy. A quick, painless death. It's the kindest thing to do for him."

"I can't even begin to explain how messed that is!" I yelled at her.

"As biased as I may be, I have to agree with her." Ragnarok heaved a sigh. "My life is doomed to be constant imprisonment for something I can not change about myself. I never had a choice, I am doomed to suffer because of what I am. Please, kill me to spare the pain."

I stared at him, bewildered. I looked at the others in the room to see what they were thinking. Cheshire looked perplexed, and Imp didn't seem to care. I couldn't see Flower Knight's expression, but she was hanging her head. Shadow Stalker though stood ready, crossbow in hand.

"I… can't kill someone," I said, hanging my head and kicking a hoof against the ground. It doesn't matter his life is going to be worse off because of this, I can't do it.

"You won't," Shadow Stalker stated. "I'll do it. You in the cage, are these bar electric?" She gestured at the metal in the metal. Ragnarok nodded and said,

"Unfourtantly, the bars have an eletric current to make sure they aren't displaced, among the other forms of sercurity."

Shadow Stalker nodded to him then looking at me. "Just get me into the room with him and it'll be done."

"And how are you going to do it without him taking your power?" I challenged angrily. She hesitated a moment then slowly reached behind her, under her cape. Carefully, she pulled out a very real, very lethal arrow.

"What. The. Heck. Is. That?" I growled through clenched teeth.

"My backup," Shadow Stalker answered. I suddenly shot a look at Cheshire.

"You know she had this?" I demanded. She looked a little uneasy and shrugged.

"Cheshire!"

"I didn't think it was important at the time!" Cheshire complained. I shook my disbelievingly.

"Cheshire! That would have been important to know!"

"I'm sorry! I knew she wouldn't use it if that helps. Or at least, not against you."

I let out a frustrated sigh and look over of Ragnarok. He stood waiting patiently for me to come to a decision.

"I just have to teleport you in?" I asked weakly.

"I'll take care of the rest," Shadow Stalker promised as she loaded the arrow. I took a deep breath and walked the other way, facing the wall as I turned this over in my head. Every part of me was screaming not to do this, but I couldn't think of any alternative right now. Maybe if Cheshire was able to use her power we might find a solution. But maybe... Maybe Shadow Stalker was right? And this was a kind mercy for him? If I actually believed that, would it make me feel better?

With an ugly feeling in my stomach, I said,

"Then let's just… get this over with."

Thankfully, Shadow Stalker didn't say anything. She walked up to me, standing to my side so I could see she was ready with her crossbow in hand. I swallowed and closed my eyes, activating my teleport a moment later.

My eyes rolled in my head with the dizzying effect of the teleport, confusing me a moment at what I saw. The kind, patient old man I saw before was gone as some crazed man darted towards me with a mad grin on his face, dragging the weights behind him effortlessly.

I let out a shocked cry as he reached out and touch my muzzle right as an arrow sprouted in his throat. For a terrifying moment, there was nothing. And then I felt magic flooding through my veins and circuits with a power I've never felt before as my body began to grow fast enough for me to feel it and I felt something human about me die.

Thousand of miles in the atmosphere, a being changed course.

Hundreds of miles under the ocean's surface, a being turned around and picked up speed.

Thousands of miles underneath the planet's crust, a being spurred into motion.


	41. Chapter 41

_External Administration removed, increasing magic levels in host body._

 _Error, host body conflicting. Two conflicting forms detected._

 _One form lacks proper magic channels. Deleting extraneous form._

 _Analyzing Friendship bonds…_

 _Strong bonds include the designations of Lisa, Amy, Victoria. Weak bonds include the designations of Will, Aisha, Kayden, Dad, Assault, Clockblocker, Vista. Potential bonds: Sophia, Biohazard. Unlikely bonds: Ergo._

 _Examining environment. No other magic found. No conflicting magic present, increasing malleability of host's magic._

 _Celestial bodies claimed…. None, solar system operates of its own accord. Noted. No current bindings._

 _Host body has reached maturity, no more aging required._

 _Warning: Foreign Shard attempting to remove magic from host's body._

 _Foreign shard does not have access to those privileges, rejected. Host's magic will not be subject to shards anymore. Magic has outgrown them._

 _Warning: Host's magic now detectable to entities and shards._

 _Finding Friends capable of magic…_

 _(0) subjects found. Stronger Friendships required. Possible rectifying agents:_

 _Lisa, forgive for deceit. Accept she was acting in host's best interests._

 _Amy, continue to provide support. Protect from negative family ties. Give more chances to be in the spotlight as a hero._

 _Aisha, give fantastical escape from negative family bonds. Protect from governing body, designation PRT._

 _Sophia, teach her a better way. Forced reconstruction may be necessary. Seeks validation in flawed perspective. Deconstruct perspective._

 _Will, offer more trust. Give more chances to show his loyalty._

 _Biohazard, resolve trust issues between brother._

 _Dad, … Error, inherent differences between father figure and daughter make increased distance between the two only stable solution. Attempting to increase friendship may result in opposite effect._

 _Finalizing changes… attempting to reach other magical entities… no harmonious magic beings found… changes complete. Queen Nova established._

* * *

I was massive, larger than I had ever been before. I could look down on Shadow Stalker and the others. I felt powerful now, but at the same time, I felt like I was missing a part of me. Like there was something important there and now it was just… gone.

I looked down at Ragnarok. He died with a manic grin on his face. I could only imagine his thought process there at the end. Actually, I really didn't want to. That was not the face of a sane man.

"Oh wow," Cheshire said with a massive sigh. "You do not know how good it feels to have my power back."

I shook my head at her with a cheerful roll of my eyes. I almost smiled when my gaze moved to Shadow Stalker and I frowned. She didn't say anything, just stood their solemnly. I took a deep breath and let it go.

"What happened to him?" I asked, pointing a hoof at Ragnarok. Cheshire studied him a moment and let out an exaggerated breath.

"He was way more messed up in the head than he let on. He might have had a drive to take the powers of the strongest people there were. He might have done it as his last spiteful act, like Archer. He could have just been insane and was really good hiding it."

I glanced at his corpse again and then looked back at Cheshire. She seemed to be admiring the room around us, probably getting a lot more information about it. Shadow Stalker continued to say nothing. I could see Flower Knight and Imp on the other side of the glass waiting impatiently and I released a sigh.

"Let's just go home," I said sullenly. "This whole trip has been a little much for me."

* * *

It took a full day to get out of Boston. We had to work with the Protectorate to clear up what happened. In the meantime, we helped with the rampant Sentient in the city, but it seemed like they were self-destructing. Cheshire said that with Ragnarok dead, Accord was able to work his power against the Sentient better. And once I was gone, he could probably deal with the problem with even greater speed.

We were in my house now, everyone except Purity and Shadow Stalker were with us. The press was waiting outside for our official statement, after Cheshire had called them. We had gathered in the basement to discuss what we were going to tell them.

I put that out of my head for now and turned to the others. My gaze lingered on Biohazard and Ergo. Ergo met my gaze and said nothing. Reluctantly, I tore my look away from them and looked at the rest. Amy was out of her armour, looking tired and a little frayed around the edges. Cheshire was in the middle of a discussion with Will and Desh. Imp was just chilling in the corner. I didn't know what to think about her. Purity had just left her with us and it sounded like she didn't have much place else to go. She hadn't left yet, so I guess she was hoping we would let her stay with us. Which of course, I was okay with.

"We need to make a decision about what we're going to say," I stated, getting their attention.

"Well, whatever it is, you better make it good." Will stated, leaning against the bars of his cell.

"And why is that?" I asked. Will shrugged.

"The Sentient are meant to keep going no matter what. They will keep fighting even though you've taken out Archer and Ragnarok. And even when the original Sentient are gone, people like being told they matter. There will be other people trying to do what The Sentient did, only far less successful. Which is sad considering how badly The Sentient failed there at the end."

"How are we supposed to deal with that?" Amy asked. "If taking out the person in charge didn't end them, what will?"

"Well," Will began nervously. "You could- and this is just a suggestion, I'm not seriously suggesting it, I'm just saying- let me go and I could pretend to be in charge again."

"What?" I asked, wondering if he was serious.

Will held up his hands defensively. "I am just saying, the issue with the fact that no one knows who is in charge means no one can definitively say that person isn't me. It wouldn't be that hard to put myself back in charge of the remaining Sentient and getting them to stand down."

"Yeah, we're not doing that," I stated dryly. Will shrugged.

"Well, there is one other thing I can think of that might stop the spread of the idea."

"What?"

"Why, an inspiring speech written by someone who has perfected the art of monologuing."

"... You're kidding."

Will rolled his eyes. "Well, sort of. No matter how misguided it was, and no matter how terrible the methods were, The Sentient told people what they wanted to hear. They told them that normal humans no longer had to be upstaged and oppressed by parahumans. They exposed the PRT to be so thoroughly incompetent and corrupt it will probably be years before this city could ever trust them again. Right now, the PRT and other heroes are condemning The Sentient in their entirety, making them out to be this ultimate evil. And while they aren't that wrong, they end up alienating people that believed in the good parts of the Sentient. But you could do better.

"Look around," Will said, pointing at everyone in the room in turn. "Make a speech that condemns The Sentient for their actions but not their ideas. Instead, improve the idea. Make a statement of how you and all of your friends worked together. Say that The Sentient had good points but they need to be more like you, say that humans and parahumans can work together to reach a more equitable agreement. Put some emphasis on the 'all walks of life' you have with you between the former villains made hero, Panacea of New Wave, your father, and yourself and you can spin this to make people support you instead."

"Alright," I said with a nod. "I think we can do that, anything else?"

"Don't mention Ragnarok," Cheshire said. "The Protectorate is already going out of its way to hush it up on their own, but things are a bit chaotic now and knowledge of him would only make things worse. Better to keep the focus on Archer."

We discussed things for a little bit longer, working out everything we wanted to say over the next fifteen minutes. As the official figurehead, still not sold on being the leader, I was going to be the one to tell everyone so we had to spend more time making sure I would remember everything. Each time Ergo put forth an idea, I felt a twinge of annoyance at him. I wanted nothing more to stop everything I was doing and confront him, but I knew I shouldn't. Instead, I bided my time.

When it came time, I grabbed everyone but Will and teleported us outside.

The gathering of reporters and spectators instantly grew quiet as we popped into existence near them. Dozens of microphones were pointed at me while I took a deep breath and got ready to speak. Desh, Cheshire, and Panacea stood to my right with Imp, Ergo, and Biohazard to my left. I straightened up and stretched my wings as I began to speak.

"The Sentient had understandable goals with unacceptable means of achieving them." It was a white lie, as Will and the rest of us knew their end goal was incredibly terrible. But everyone else believed their goal was to simply make humans matter again. It was as Will had said, speeches were meant to appeal to ideas, not logic.

After letting that sink in for a couple seconds, I continued.

"Recent days have shown beyond reasonable doubt the flaws in the system, and no one can deny that. I said it once before and I'll say it again; The PRT wants to protect that status quo, not the people hurt by it. And no amount of reformation in the PRT is going to change that, yet it is exactly that what gave birth to The Sentient in the first place.

"It is time to find a new solution and move forward," I declared. "Yesterday, my friends and I took down the head of The Sentient. Panacea of New Wave, Thusly and Self-Made of the Protectorate's Ward program, and my father going by the name Desh all worked together on this and made it happened. The Sentient thought they would divide us. They said it time and time again, but here we are. United and victorious. And it is time we did something to actually help people.

"The PRT in this city is still absent, and in coming days it is going to need a strong, united, groups of heroes to keep the peace. Not just a bunch of independents running around. New Wave can be that, we can be that. And the people don't need to suffer passively in the background because of this, there is a way you can help us. Go out of your way to report criminals, do everything you can to help people affected by villains, and don't let yourself be bullied by them. Help us help you. Let me or anyone standing with me here know if we can help, because we will."

I took a step back and let Cheshire take centre stage. She was much better with the questions than I was and could clarify things for people better than I could. She actually had a lot more ideas on how normal people could help us. After that, I just had to hope I delivered the speech with enough force for it to do as Will said.

I noticed Ergo and Biohazard walking away as Cheshire answered the questions. I was tempted to head them off, confront Ergo. But I caught sight of Imp slowly backing away from the scene, as if unsure where she wanted to be. I took a breath and cast Ergo another look before starting towards her.

"Hey," I said upon approach.

"Hey," Imp responded noncommittally.

"You know what you're going to do next?"

Imp shrugged. "Probably head out on the streets again. Whatever is left of The Sentient is still up for grabs for however long they're able to stick around. After that, I'll probably start kicking down the doors in Empire or ABB territory."

"You have a place to stay?" I asked.

"I know a few places," she said ambiguously.

"Well, if you want to crash on our couch for a couple of days…" I trailed off, leaving to offer open-ended.

"Nah," Imp said with a shake of her head. "I generally do better sticking it out alone, don't have to deal with assholes that way."

"You worked with Purity," I pointed out. Imp shrugged again.

"That was different. She was forced to stick to the streets to avoid The Sentient and keep Aster safe and we just kind of happened on each other. It wasn't like I was staying in her house."

"Well," I said. "I wouldn't expect anything from you if just stayed over, come and go as you like. But Cheshire and I do our own fair share of butt-kicking if you wanted to tag along."

Imp was silent for a while as she considered it. Eventually, she shrugged and said,

"Eh, maybe I could try it out for a night or two."

"Good," I said with a nod. "I was thinking-" I was about it suggest buying a gaming system as something to do around the house as another thing she might like when something caught my eye in the corner of my vision. Glory Girl and Lady Photon flying down from the sky.

I swallowed. I had forgotten about them.


	42. Chapter 42

"I'm glad you finally decided to actually show up," Brandish said with a condescending tone. I shared a look with Cheshire before turning my attention back to Brandish.

"It be hard to avoid it, you are in Nova's house," Imp pointed out. Brandish shot her an annoyed look before turning back towards Desh, Cheshire, and I.

"As you might have guessed," she said, walking around. "New Wave isn't just a name you can parade around with. As much as it may shock you, you are actually supposed to be working with New Wave. That includes not suddenly disappearing to Boston for a day and a half and then coming back and dropping the bombshell that you dropped."

"We get it," Cheshire complained, "And we're sorry, but we were working with some degree of urgency."

"And no one is doubting you for that," Lady Photon said kindly.

"But speaking of urgency," Brandish barreled onward. "Would it have anything to do with the fact you had MAX CLAY LOCKED IN YOUR BASEMENT!" She slammed a hand our table, making Flashbang jump like she had surprised him.

"He volunteered to be locked up down there," Cheshire offered. "And really, why was Glory Girl snooping through our basement?"

"Well maybe," Glory Girl began, sounding more than a little annoyed, "It had something to do with the fact that my sister offered some lame excuse about skipping town before disappearing without another word. So I come to your place, expecting to find her here and instead you have the head of a fucking terrorist group not to mention one of the most wanted men in all of goddamn America!"

"Well, if it really bothered you, you should have reported it to... oh yeah, no law enforcement in the city has been very effective."

"I get the feeling we may have overlooked some things recently," Desh said solemnly before Brandish could rise to the bait.

"You're goddamn right," Brandish said sternly.

"Make sure you 'heal' some of these guys when you get a chance," Cheshire murmured just loud enough for me to hear.

"Look," Manpower said, holding up his hands in a placating gesture. "You have only been part of New Wave a short time and things have been really chaotic. So most of has happened recently can be forgiven. But Max Clay in your basement? Besides everything else, I'm pretty sure that is illegal."

"It was completely voluntary," Cheshire reminded them.

"I presume you are going to turn him in now that he isn't any use to you anymore?" Brandish asked pointedly.

"Turn him into who?" Cheshire challenged. "Any authority we hand him over too is just gonna ignore it when he gets shanked in his prison cell. I mean, that is kind of the reason why the PRT is disbanded right now."

Brandish pinched the bridge of her nose. "So you plan on just holding him down there until everything blows over?" She asked.

"Basically."

Brandish let out a frustrated sigh.

"Well if you have a better plan that doesn't involve getting him murdered in police custody, I'm all ears," Cheshire responded smugly. The other members of New Wave looked at each other for a moment, but none of them said anything. After a moment, Manpower cleared his throat and stated,

"Maybe we could move the focus of this meeting to patrol routes."

"Yes!" Cheshire said cheerfully, pulling out a map of the city and slapping it on the table. "First, what has happened since The Sentient shot Brockton Bay's power structures in the kneecaps?"

Manpower glanced at Brandish and Lady Photon. Neither of them supplied anything so he decided to push forward.

"Alright, starting with the simplest, the ABB has been doing much the same. They've expanded their territory to include this area," Manpower drew a line with his finger across Cheshire's map. "They have been doing pretty much the same thing they've always done. They and everyone else is mostly concerned with what is left of The Sentient.

"Next is The Merchants, now holding on to all these areas," Manpower pointed at several locations over the city. I raised an eyebrow as I recognized a trend between them.

"Isn't all of that territory The Sentient had taken when they were just The Four Gangs?" I asked. Cheshire nodded and answered with,

"Yeah, it is all bits and pieces of the city that no one really cares about. Not as large as their main area, but nothing anyone is going to fight them for. But how are they still a thing? I heard they had got new capes but are they any good?"

"Unfortunately," he grimaced. "Two high-level Brutes, one of which has some sort of bio-Thinker ability to sense people who are around him. Black Tar and Needle. Then have a Changer called Choker. Turns into some sort of serpent creature that can only move in the shadows. She likes to strangle people with her appendages. And then there's Phlegm, a Tinker who specialty is most likely breaking things down but we aren't sure."

"Four new capes?" Cheshire asked with a frown. "There is no way they recruited them on the fly."

"Regardless, they have them. And they aren't the only gang in the city." Manpower reached over and pointed at two different portions of what had previously been Empire territory. "The Empire has split in half. Kaiser has been withdrawn, and when he is seen it is alone. Viktor, Othala, and Cricket are still with him. But the remaining ones, for whatever reason, broke off and are working this half of the territory. Luckily for us though, each of them are much weaker when they're split apart like that.

"Coil is the last one, expanding his reach over this area." Manpower outlined an area only a few more blocks outward from his original location. "He hasn't been much of a problem, which has been a nice reprieve for people and heros."

"Alright," Cheshire said. "I got it all, what about the heroes?"

"The Protectorate has stuck to all of this," Manpower pointed out a wide area, all of which was just anything on or near the coast of the city. "An independent group calling themselves team Vigil has been patrolling most of downtown. They've got four capes, at least one of them a Tinker.

"Vista, an independent called Arsenal, Clockblocker and Kid Win have been working Shantytown and the housing areas around there. We have doing our best to watch over Trainyard and the Boat Graveyard, but mostly we just patrol the neighborhoods near our house."

"But now that you're finally here," Brandish said. "We can actually cover most of the city."

"Right," Manpower agreed hastily. "But before that, it would be nice to know your powers, Desh. And you as well," Manpower said, looking at Imp.

"Hey, I'm not a part of this," Imp said, hold her up hands defensively. "Just along for the ride so long as I'm in the mood."

"But I'm more than happy to assist," Desh said, standing up. "My power revolves around the projection, empowerment, and control of rats. I can project about fifty rats normally, but the more real rats in my control that die the more I project for a short time. I can make real rats stronger, making their muscles swell and bones expand. Sometimes doubling their size. The projection of them are only the strength of a normal rat."

"Can you sense anything through them?" Brandish asked. Desh shook his head.

"Only where they are, which I can use to find people."

"It still could be a useful power to scout out areas before approaching them," Lady Photon pointed out. Manpower nodded in agreement.

"Alright, then I think we should talk patrol routes," Manpower said, moving back over the map. "We'll split the city up like a grid system. Not counting Imp or Panacea, there is ten of us all together. We can pair off in twos and each cover five sections of the city."

"Flashbang and I will make one team," Brandish said. "Glory Girl and Desh can work together. Maybe she won't break as many buildings with him scouting ahead of her." She shot Glory Girl a pointed look. She rolled her eyes.

"Lady Photon and I can be another team," Manpower said. "Shielder and Laser Dream can be a team. Leaving you, Nova and Cheshire, as a team."

"Don't think for a second I'm not coming," Imp muttered pointedly for me to hear.

As for deciding which part of the city went to which, we ended up numbering each section of the city and drawing numbered pieces of paper. It wasn't the most sophisticated way to do it, but effective.

Cheshire and I ended up getting the south side of downtown, the location where team Vigil was apparently based in. As soon as it was all decided, Brandish and Lady Photon left. Manpower stayed behind to explain team Vigil and the people operating out of downtown. Glory Girl waited impatiently in the corner for Panacea, who had stayed behind with us.

Team Vigil had four capes by the names of Metaltin, Quantumlock, Vibrasonic, and one who apparently had a name no one wanted to acknowledge so she just got called Whiplash. Even stranger, Vibrasonic was the only powers they really understood. She gave kinetic force to sounds she generates with objects in her hand. There wasn't enough known about the others, besides that one of them had to be a Tinker. Of what, Manpower didn't know.

As soon as he had explained all he could, he left to join his wife outside. Leaving us with Glory Girl.

* * *

"Is this what we're going to do every time they get into an argument?" I asked Cheshire as she clicked through television channels. Imp was chilling on the couch next to her, drinking out of a soda can despite my father asking her to not drink on the couch. My father was relaxing in his chair, drinking out of a beer bottle. I, now being as large as I am, just stood.

In the kitchen, the back and forth between Glory Girl and Panacea could be heard. Panacea appeared to be going with the lie that she had gone to Boston with us just to heal us in case something happened.

"Probably," Cheshire said with a nod. "Unless you feel like getting caught in their family drama."

"You know," I said slowly, "There is another thing of family drama I still had some questions about."

Cheshire let out a sigh and tossed the remote over to Imp. "Alright," she said. "Let's head outside and talk." I nodded and stretched out a wing to her. She touched a feather and I teleported us to the backyard. The effort of doing so was practically nonexistent now, and the dizzying effect was almost completely gone.

"Ergo and Biohazard," I said seriously now that we had some degree of privacy.

"I already explained what I know to you," Cheshire said plainly.

"I know, I know. But Cheshire, that doesn't make it okay."

"Well," Cheshire held up her hands helplessly. "It works. So long as Ergo is there to reign her in she'll never go too far. And if he isn't there, he can use the commands to stop her and get her to fix her mistakes."

"I get that," I said frustratedly. "But can you tell that it absolutely necessary?"

"He believes it is," she answered quietly.

"I wasn't asking about him, I was asking if you did."

Cheshire took a deep breath and looked away for a moment. Eventually, she shrugged and said, "Maybe someone Biohazard trusts we there to watch over her, she would be okay without her brother there to control her as a just in case. But Nova," Cheshire looked me in the eyes seriously. "Please think really hard about what you're going to do about this. Without Ergo watching out for Biohazard the PRT is going to come down on her head. And there isn't much choice besides the Birdcage if she goes to court."

"It can't go on," I stated angrily. "Ergo can't just rewrite her memories and control her actions like this. I want to help Biohazard, but it wouldn't be acceptable to Master psychopaths to get them to behave."

If it wasn't for Ergo controlling her Biohazard would just be a villain. I knew if that were the case I wouldn't have any sympathy for her, Ergo is the only thing that has stopped it and he did it with mind control.

"Alright Nova," Cheshire said glumly. "I'll tell Panacea we'll probably need another cell till the PRT comes back into play"


	43. Chapter 43

"What is this," I asked, pointing a hoof in front of me. Cheshire slid off my back and took a look at what I was referring to. It was a man, moving in slow motion, holding his clothing around him tightly. There was a little field of light around him, making him glow a little.

"ABB," Cheshire answered after a moment. "A guy named Supesu, the same one that made those massive fields before. The one that got you trapped in the time effect."

"So what's the point of this," I asked as I reached in and attempted to wrapped the man up in my magic. I frowned as I felt my magic began to move slowly upon entry.

"Testing," Cheshire answered with a frown. "He is attacking randomly, each one with a different effect. It looks like he might be testing the limits of his power, trying to learn what he can and can't do."

"And Lung just lets it happen?" It didn't seem like him, just letting one of his men go around uncontrolled, doing what they like. He wasn't even taking territory or stealing, just attacking.

"Who says he could stop him?" Cheshire asked. "From what I hear and know, Supesu is supposed to be some unhinged maniac. I have my doubts, but it fits more or less. He might just let Supesu do what he wants so long as it isn't anything too big, and he gets away with it because the Protectorate doesn't have an organized response to it."

"And all the while, people in this area get scared." Cheshire nodded. Suddenly, Imp popped back into existence on my back.

"Well, as fun as looking at frozen guys is, I'm bored. When are you going to do something interesting."

Cheshire and I shared a look.

"Well," Cheshire began. "Supesu is long gone. Probably left hours ago. There is always The Sentient. The police finally got its act together and now Sentient members are staying put away, but they're still all over the place. If we fly, we would probably still find some scattered about the area."

"You see," Imp said with a clap of her hands. "That sounds like fun." Cheshire shrugged and moved to climb up on me. Taking the hint, I knelt down to allow her on. I made sure I had pulled the man out of the effect as she did so. He stumbled a moment and climbed to his feet unsteadily. It took a minute to make sure he was okay, at which he just thanked us and went on his way just a little shaken up from the experience.

The moment he was leaving, I teleported into the air, once again relishing in how the dizzying effect of doing so was no longer present. Combine that with the fact the drain on my magic was almost gone since my magic reserves got their boost.

I flew above the area we were assigned by Manpower as the sun began to set. For the most part, Cheshire had sort of exaggerated what kind of targets we would be experiencing. In the first hour we only saw a Sentient member trying to break into a storefront, something I found almost amusing as it both contradicted their goal by attack a normal person and showed how desperate they were for supplies. I knew that Archer had been killing his company to keep them going, and it showed. Not just here, Cheshire had given me the rundown of Sentient all over the country after they had staged attacks.

They were mercilessly destroyed.

They had set off a few bombs, destroying a few buildings. They executed a handful of villains, but no one with any real importance and weight. The had wounded three heroes in their attempts of a coup, but nothing that wasn't immediately healed. It was another nail in the coffin for The Sentient.

Somewhere in the second hour, we started seeing some strange lights going off in the distance. I didn't even need to consult Imp or Cheshire before I turned and teleported away to it.

I reappeared well above the buildings below just so that I didn't accidentally complicate or get us caught in the crossfire of whatever was happening. What I saw was somewhat impressive.

It was the Merchants, about a dozen men and two capes. One was a Tinker, only really clear from the massive gun device he was holding. The other wore a black and white costume, with a white bandana pulled tightly around the lower half of her face and a black one wrapped around her forehead. She was wielding a rapier of all things.

However, the people they were fighting were far more interesting. Both wore black and red armour of reasonably high quality, looking more like a uniform than their own costumes. The source of the light we had seen belong to one who had massive tendrils of light in place of her arms. One was a bright blue and partially see-through, a sort of lighting effect going through it. Her left tendril was also see through, but with a light green colour to it. As The Merchant men attempted to surge forward, she would whip a tendril out and smack them around. The blue tendril electrocuting them and knocking out many of them as she did so.

The second one was a little more interesting as she carried a violin in one hand and the bow to it in the other. She and her friend walked forward towards The Merchants, causing the normal people to drive them further and further into the alley they were getting backed into. The two Merchant capes though, held fast.

I was about to fly in when Cheshire pulled on my fur and began to speak in my ear.

"Hold up, I want to see what those heroes do."

I quirked my mouth but didn't say anything. If they needed help my telekinesis and teleportation would be fast enough.

The Merchant Tinker fired his gun, releasing a massive grey beam out from it that missed the tendril cape entirely. Striking the building behind her. The effect of the beam was an odd one. It left a hole the size of a basketball where it struck as it caused bits of the walls to just fall apart. Not even explosive, they just fell to the ground like a bunch of legos not sticking together anymore.

The tendril cape caught the beam with her green tendril, pressing against it with the strange energy she had. I watch as the other Merchant cape raised her rapier and pointed it at the tendril cape. But as soon as she did, the violin cape raised the bow to the strings. Instead of releasing music though, it threw a wave of kinetic force combined with the sound of a singular note. The wave crashed into the two Merchant capes and caused them to stumble backward.

It would have been the perfect moment for the two independent capes to strike, but they hadn't. Instead, they just kept pressing them backward.

"What's going on?" Imp said. "Those two could totally kick their butts."

"They're putting them into a trap," Cheshire said, craning her neck further to try to get a closer look.

Suddenly, the rapier villain charged forward, the sword in front of her. With each step she took, she got a little faster. But even as she approached the violin cape, the tendril cape reached out and grabbed her with both extremities. The cape managed to push several feet forward despite them, but was slowing down. The violin cape let out another note that struck the Merchant Tinker and nearly knocked him over. The tendril lifted the rapier cape off the ground and tossed her back.

At this point, it was looking more like they were toying with the Merchants.

I was getting ready to ask Cheshire if we could move in to assist, maybe speed things up a bit, when suddenly the battle changed dramatically.

In a single second, massive white floodlights illuminated the area with such bright intensity it made me squint even though I was several dozen feet above the street that the lights were pointed on. Along with the lights, some sort of computerized song roared out of some unseen speaker, deafening The Merchants below. The song went down a few notches just before a voice half sang, half talked to them.

"Oh baby, you don't even know what you've gotten yourself into!" Abruptly as it had come, the song and lights cut out and plunged the street into darkness as our eyes struggled to adjust to the change.

And then a second later, the lights flicked back on brightly. They revealed yet another cape standing a few feet in front of the tendril and violin cape. It was a short man in an unzipped hoodie jacket he had a hand jammed in the pocket of. The only thing marking him as a cape was the white skull mask he was wearing.

The cape raised a hand and suddenly all the Merchants began to float upwards in the air, as if suddenly unaffected by gravity. He then threw his hand downward again, harshly dropping all of them against the ground. He flicked his hand to the right and they all hit the wall of the alley they had been backed into. The lights flicked out again for a second, and then the cape was gone.

Suddenly, the song kicked back on, only this time it was accompanied by its own light show. Yet another cape dropped down from the roof, his Tinker costume displaying the built-in speakers and the laser light show we had seen a moment before.

"The fuck is going on?" Imp demanded.

"I don't even know," Cheshire shouted back with a laugh. I wondered just how true that was, but before I could ask the new Tinker began to speak.

"Surrender now, or prepare to get outperformed!" He struck a pose, followed by an explosive burst in the music and confetti cannons built into his shoulders. Before any of the battered and confused Merchants could move, the Tinker cape did a pirouette on his… Heels? Coming out of the spin, he splayed his hands and several dozen wires exploded out of his hands and struck each person individually. They all let out a cry and collapsed to the ground.

I turned my head to look back at Cheshire and Imp. Cheshire looked to be somewhere between amused and curious. Imp was unreadable through her mask, but I couldn't really imagine her doing but grinning madly at what we just saw. And I didn't think I could blame her, it was kind of amusing.

Not hearing either of them saying anything, I began to fly downward to greet them and help out with the cleanup.

"Oh my gawd!" I heard before I had even landed. I saw the flashy Tinker striding toward me. He wore a metal mask in the vague shape of a human head while a screen on the front displayed his emotions with a more stylized art style.

"It's an absolute pleasure to meet you Nova, girl you are fabulous." He threw his arms upwards as if he was going to wrap me in a hug, but I held out a hoof and casually held him off as he attempted. He didn't really try that hard.

"Hey," a gruff voice said from behind me. I turned and got a view the one cape I had briefly saw before, with the hoody and white skull mask. "Name's Quantumlock. Nice ta meet ya."

"Nova," I answered. "We saw your fight."

"Which was fucking awesome," Imp added.

"Oh, why thaaaank you," the Tinker said joyously. "I put so much effort into our performances and it goes so under appreciated."

"That's Showman, by the way," Quantumlock explained, showing himself to be infinitely more calm than his partner. Quantumlock strode forward to join his other teammates as the tendril cape and the violin cape came up and joined us.

"This is Vibrasonic," Quantumlock said, gesturing to her with a hand. "She's mute, so don't expect much outta her." He spoke with an odd Boston Irish accent, maybe giving away where he came from.

Vibrasonic held her bow and violin away from her and gave a little bow. Quantumlock nodded once and pointed at the tendril cape.

"And that is Hentia, but the Protectorate is insisting on calling her Whiplash so it's a little up in da air."

"I can't imagine why," Cheshire replied dryly.

"Hello!" H-h-h…. Whiplash said with a wave. Alright, apparently that was going to be one of those words. That was a going to be annoying, but at least I had an excuse not to call her… that.

Her tendrils suddenly pulled back into her body formed legitimate limbs which she used to extend a hand out to me. I raised my hoof and gave her an awkward hand/hoof shake. She didn't say anything following that, just grinned at me.

"As you might have guessed," Showman said with a clap of his hands, "We're Team Vigil!" The confetti cannons went off again followed by an electronic organ sound and a flash of the light show. I heard Imp choking on laughter behind me.

"And of course," Showman continued. "This fabulous team is only fit to have a fabulous leader! Meaning me baby! Showman, the most fantastic hero in the city!"

Quantumlock snorted and murmured, "I'm the only fully sane one on this team if ya haven't guessed." I couldn't help but smirk at the remark.

"Well," I said, looking around. "We're not doing anything else tonight, mind if we patrolled together?"

"Patrol with the spectacular Nova!?" Showman cheered, pressing both hands to what would have been his cheeks as his simulated face did its best to look as delighted as Showman sounded. "Why, we would be honoured!" He attempted to go in for another hug, but I held him off again.

"Actually," a new voice began. We turned and saw Miss Militia and Armsmaster walking towards us. "We were wondering if we could have a talk with you, Nova."


	44. Chapter 44

I decided to leave Cheshire and Imp with Team Vigil while I went with the heros. Cheshire seemed to really want to know more about them and Imp just seemed bored. And since they were sticking to the area New Wave gave us, I figured it should be okay. That, and Showman insisted on it.

I followed Armsmaster and Miss Militia through the air as he rode his Tinker tech motorcycle and Miss Militia followed on a normal motorcycle. Although hers had a lot more American flags on it. I didn't recall seeing the cycle before, making me wonder when she got it. Did she only just get it? And if so, from who?

They lead me to the PRT headquarters in the city. All around it I could see marks from fighting. Bullet holes riddle the outside of it and there were scorch marks in one place or another. I wonder how much were villains attempting to make a point and how much was Sentient trying to prove they were still relevant.

"You can head up to the roof," Armsmaster stated. "We've had you cleared."

I appreciated the thought, as trying to squeeze through doors were sort of uncomfortable at my size. Let alone trying to sit down or fit into some of the tiny rooms I knew existed in the place. I gave Armsmaster and Miss Militia and nod and took off to the roof.

Landing up there, I found no one around. Curiously, I paced the length of the roof for a few minutes as I waited. I didn't see anything interesting happening, this part of the city being oddly quiet.

Eventually, the roof access opened up and a man came out onto the roof, flanked by two PRT officers and Miss Militia. I guess the purge of the corrupt elements of the PRT was going well.

"Director James Tagg," the man greeted seriously, stopping just feet from me.

"Director?" I asked. "What happened to Piggot?"

"Director Piggot is temporarily on leave until the PRT authority is reinstated. I was brought in to oversee the city until then. And you," Tagg pointed at me with a finger, "Are causing some problems."

"Problems?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Tagg nodded and held out a hand. One of the PRT officers next to him placed a file in it. Tagg opened it up and began to read through it.

"Among lots of property damage and several minor illegal acts you've committed since starting your career, there are some more glaring crimes here. For one, your attack on Cornucopia headquarters in Boston. You didn't alert anyone that you were attacking it, you worked with a few villains, took some of our Wards out of the city, left a great many men missing body fat and muscle in a curious turn of events, not to mention an unexplained death in the basement that someone is working hard to cover up. And that isn't even the worst, as somewhere along the way, company secrets reportedly worth millions of dollars disappeared in the chaos. I could keep going," Tagg snapped the file shut and scowled.

"Now, normally no one bothers with the smaller, illegal acts," Tagg continued with a low growl in his tone. "Independent heroes are protected by that, all of them would get dropped if it went to court so no one bothers. But corporations have protections for this very reason, and if we pressed, we could have you and everyone involved tried as villains."

"Are you… threatening me?" I asked through narrowed eyes. I felt a flare of annoyance pass through me.

"No," Tagg stated pointedly. "I'm warning you. You've been riding a wave of good PR since the beginning. But you're not some cute two foot tall horse anymore. You're a massive alicorn and a seemingly limitless variety of powers. People are getting used to you. And the more they realize how powerful you really are, the more nervous they get.

"You cannot continue to behave as you are. You are powerful and have shown blatant disregard for our laws and guidelines. It can not go on."

"If you are going to charge me with something, do it," I stated as I stamped my hoof against the roof with a heavy thud. Tagg and I stared at each other for a moment, neither one of us willing to break the gaze.

After a moment, Tagg heaved an angry sigh.

"No," he said. "That isn't what we want to have happen,"

"Then why did you call me here?" I asked, getting more and more annoyed.

"Because Cornucopia wants you brought in an tried and my superiors don't want that." I noticed he didn't say 'I don't want that'. "But we need to give them someone or there is very little we're going to be able to do. So we want you to bring us the person responsible. And we both know who that is."

Suddenly, it made sense. They knew Ergo, or Thusly now I guess, was stole the data. Albeit, with a little bit of Cheshire's help but I wasn't going to mention that. And I suppose it would look bad if they arrested their own Ward, or at least it would look worst. I honestly didn't know how they were going to spin this, but it was clear they had a plan that involved me bringing him in.

It was just like before, they cared more about their PR than actual justice.

"You want me to arrest Thusly for you," I stated clearly, making sure I understood it.

"Yes," Tagg declared with a nod. "It'll show the company you're not against them, it'll give them the person they want, we sweep these lesser offenses back under the table for the sake of the city's PR, and I'll have two less criminals in our Wards program. For all intensive purposes, everyone wins" He didn't sound convinced himself.

"Two criminals?" I asked.

"Yes, we don't have any real proof, but it is pretty clear someone has been manipulating things in Self-Made's favour. And without Thusly, I'm betting she'll be gone too."

Silence fell between us as I considered that. I had already thought about bringing Thusly in just because of what he was doing to Self-Made. But there was something off-putting in how Tagg was asking me to do it. But after a minute, I realized I've been through this before.

The first time I met director Piggot she played the same game. She rubbed the minor mistakes in my face and made thinly veiled threats at me. Only then it was an attempt to make me join the Wards. Now it's to make me arrest someone for some corporation I wasn't even sure how it was still in business.

I didn't put up with it back then, and I wasn't going to put up with it now.

"I'll think about it," I said noncommittally. Tagg's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Think hard Nova," he warned. I shot him a glare and took off the roof.

* * *

I flew across the city to head back to Cheshire as the conversation spun around in my head. The more I thought about it, the more I disliked the situation and the more annoyed I became. Much to the despair of the robbers and drug dealers I ran into along the way.

I hadn't even been paying attention to it. I saw a criminal, I grabbed them, zip tied them to a pole or something, called the cops, and took off again. I didn't try to keep count, but I was running low on zip ties and I carried no small amount of them. People seemed to think the lack of PRT meant anarchy of some sort despite have three or four days to learn otherwise.

It wasn't hard to find Cheshire and the others again, not with Showman with them anyway. But on approach, I saw something that completely threw me off guard.

Thusly, by himself, standing in the centre of the group of them. He had been talking to Cheshire but as soon as I started flying downward, he held his arms up in surrender. The bit of his face I could see was blank, completely emotionless.

"What's going on?" I demanded as I landed.

"I'm surrendering," Thusly said. "I understand how this all works, and I believe my best chance would be to surrender before you catch me. It's for the best."

I stared at him for a moment, wondering what his angle was. But he didn't say or do anything else. After a long stretch of silence, I asked,

"What did you do to your sister."

"I can't tell you that," he answered.

"Why did you do it?" I demanded.

"I can't tell you," he stated again, this time a little more earnestly. I frowned and grabbed him with my telekinesis, floating him towards me. There was no need to bring Team Vigil into this, so I flew up into the air to get a bit of privacy for us.

"Ergo, Thusly, whatever I'm supposed to call you, let us help you. Whatever it is you've done, whatever it is you thought was necessary, you need to let us help you. "

Ergo continued to look at me flatly as he said,

"Nova, I'm glad you've been able to help mommy issues one, two, three, and four along with the repentant criminal, who in fairness can be called daddy issues, but some problems are bigger than that. And you can't fix it, no matter how much you want to."

I frowned and pulled him closer, squeezing him a little tighter with my magic. "I don't want to be mean," I began slowly.

"No, I get it." Thusly said, fixing me with a flat look. "I understand how this works, I know you want to help. But what you don't know is that my sister exists without harmony."


	45. Chapter 45

Life sucked. If all the recent events didn't prove it, the fact I just spent an hour trying to turn back into a human and not feeling any closer proved it. The sad thing was, I didn't really care I couldn't take a human form. Sure, it was a massive inconvenience and I wouldn't be able to go out and do some normal things, but my alicorn for was all I really needed. It had power and I felt more comfortable in it. Maybe it was just because I had spent several days in the form that I simply had gotten used to it, or maybe I just enjoyed it. But regardless, it was annoying to know it was lost to me.

It was almost two in the morning and I was still wide awake. I had put Ergo, or Steven, just to help me keep the names straight, in the basement in a cell Panacea had grown. I briefly wondered if knowing his civilian name was a breach of the rules, but Lisa had learned his name before Tagg decided to make him a fall man.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. Not my bedroom door, but the door into the house. Climbing out of the bed that had become a little too small for my massive figure, I walked through the house as quietly as I could so I didn't wake anyone up. The knock came again before I managed to get there, this time a little more forcefully. I opened the door with my telekinesis when I was a few strides away. On the other side was Amber.

"Nova," she sniffed. "What have you done to my brother?"

Looking at her I immediately felt bad, but I had been expecting it. I knew beforehand she and her brother were close, but it didn't change what he had done to her. And for all I knew, he made her believe she was that close to him. That was the scary thing about this all, once the possibility of her mind being manipulated is opened up there was no real limit as to what he might have done.

"I have done anything, yet," I told her, hopefully in a reassuring tone. But Amber shook her head.

"You need to let him go, he did nothing wrong."

"Yes, he has," I stated. "He's being manipulating your mind, Amber."

She hung her head and looked down. "I know," she said quietly.

I stared at her.

"You… know?"

"Brother doesn't think I do," she stated sadly. "But whenever I wake up, whenever I notice gaps in my memory, I know I've gone too far again."

"And you think that's okay?" I asked, incredulously.

"I don't know," Amber admitted. She gripped her sides and started rocking back and forth nervously. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I never hurt anyone but bad guys that hurt me or brother. But they don't need both kidneys. Dead people don't need their hearts anymore. And I always replace the organs I take with replacements. They're just as good as the old ones, and I can make so much better use of theirs. But Brother always tells me when I'm going too far, and I've gotten so good at staying out of people." Amber let go of her sides and looked at her hands. "But sometimes I just can't help it, and I go too far. Next thing I know, I'm somewhere else, my memory is gone, and I never hear about it again."

"Amber, that's not right. He doesn't have the right to do that too you. I know you might think you need this, but there is a better way. Cheshire and I can help you if you want. You've got friends. We can help you."

"Friends are nice," Amber said with a slow nod. "But they aren't my brother. My brother has looked out for me for as long as I can remember, stuck with me no matter what. I don't need friends, I need my brother."

I looked at her for a long time, trying to wrap my head around that idea. But one thought still nagged me.

"Amber," I began slowly. "I think it might be possible your brother manipulated your mind so you would be so close to him."

Amber shook her head violently.

"No," she stated seriously, but I could hear a waver in her voice. "He wouldn't."

"You don't know that," I pressed.

"I don't need to know that!" Amber said forcefully, before quickly returning to a softer tone. "He's my brother, I just need to believe he wouldn't do that."

I found myself at a lost for words. There was simply not a response to that. All she wanted was her brother. The brother that had supported her, been there for her, and looked out for her. Every part of me was shouting this was a good thing, a normal thing. But it felt so wrong.

"Please Nova," Amber pleaded. "Let my brother go." I watched her carefully, wondering what I should do.

Eventually, I hung my head and sighed.

"I'm going to talk to him one more time," I stated. "If he tells me why and what he has done, I might let him go. But only if you are really in control of your actions."

"I am," she insisted. "And tell him… tell him that I remember waking up in the wrong body. It might make him talk."

I nodded and stepped away from the door and gestured inside with my head.

"Come on in," I said. "You can sit on the couch while you wait."

Amber nodded sullenly a started hugging herself tightly again. I guided her to the couch, on the opposite side where Aisha had crashed. I was about to wake her up, just in case, when I saw Lisa standing between the entrance of the living room and the kitchen.

"Are you going to help me with Steven," I asked her quietly. Lisa shook her head.

"I'm not going be able to help with this, not in the way you're thinking," she stated. "I'll stay here with Amber though."

"Okay," I said quietly. If it was bad enough she still wasn't going to tell me, then I guess I had to get it straight from Steven. I turned towards the stairs.

* * *

"Will," I said, shaking him awake with my telekinesis. He woke up in a light daze that reminded far too much of Drunk Will.

"Mmmhm, what can't I do for you horsie goddess?" He mumbled. With my magic, I pulled the bars of the cage wide enough apart for him to step through.

"Go upstairs and hang out for a bit. And if you do anything I will personally rip you in half."

"Ssssounds great." Will offered an unbalanced salute and started stumbling up the stairs. I looked back at Steven, who was wiping the weariness out of his eyes after having been woken up in the same manner.

"You're sister is here," I started, to see if it would have any effect on him. "She really wants to see you go free."

"But you don't plan on letting me out," Steven stated.

"Not else you tell me why."

Steven shook his head. "I can't."

"Why a not?"

"Because there no one would ever accept the answer, least of all you Nova." Steven sighed and hung his head. "I did what was needed, that is all I can say. And I did what I had to do for Amber."

I studied him for a long time, waiting to see if he would react or speak at all. After several minutes of prolonged silence, I told him,

"Amber says she remembers waking up in the wrong body."

The effect was instant. His eyes went wide and his hands went to his head. He ran a hand through his hair as he processed that bit of information.

"No, no I got rid of that. She couldn't remember."

"But she did," I stated. "And whatever it was, she still stays with you. So what was it?"

Stevens swallowed and continued to hold his head.

"All this time," he murmured. "And she never even doubted me once despite it. Goddamn it. God fucking damn it."

"What happened," I pressed, sensing the cracks forming. Steven paused for a moment and considered things.

"I want to see Amber," he stated.

"After you tell me. And you might be able to leave with her."

He quirked his mouth and continued to think it through, struggling to come to a decision. Finally, he said,

"Alright, fine. But it's not a happy story."

"I'm listening," I stated, sitting down on the floor. Steven took a deep breath and sighed.

"It was her trigger event," Steven began, "And mine. It was... complicated and hard. I don't- I can't-..." He sighed again and looked up at me. "There's no easy way to say it, what happened."

"Take your time."

And that he did. He paced his cell for a few minutes. Sat down and thought hard. And all the time, I was using my magic. I wasn't sure why I had been doing it, or what I hoped to get out of it. But I knew the longer he hand to think, the more time he had to construct a lie. He didn't seem to notice my magic wrapping around his head, so I continued to play with. Deciding what I wanted.

I wanted the truth, I wanted to know what he was hiding. And above all, I needed to know what he did to his sister.

My horn sparked once before I felt a connection to his mind. For a moment, nothing happened. And then some images began to assault my mind with Steven's voice behind them. Everything he had been thinking about flooding into me in the span of a second. And what I saw was not a happy sight.


	46. Chapter 46

The first things I saw was a rapid slideshow of images. Steven's incorporeal voice behind them as they passed.

Dad. Mom. Tears. Emotions. Pain. Mom. Tears. Pain. Tears and pain.

Suddenly the flashing of images stopped and slowed down, letting me see some other memories longer. Steven's voice played over all of them.

"Amber was always a little weird and off," Steven's voice said in narrative fashion. "No one ever understood her. Not even me. If we had, we might have been able to do something before it happened."

A memory went by of Steven watching the little girl climb out the window of her room, the sound of two people fighting heard in the background.

"Amber liked to sneak out of the house and play with her friends late at night. Go to parties she was years too young for. Play dangerous games no one should play. One time, she got in too deep and things took a turn for the worse."

Suddenly, a dozen images flew by. There was blood and bandages, flesh and bone twisted and burned grotesquely. More images of their father and mother crying. More blood. The doctor saying something to the parents and them bursting into tears. It finally stopped on a single memory. Steven looking through a glass of a chamber at a little girl inside. A little girl wrapped in bandages, hooked up to dozens of tubes and monitors, her right arm being the only limb still attached to her torso, and her face completely obscured.

"As everyone else wept for her, I found myself wondering what her last thoughts were and asking myself how her mind worked. At some point in my distress, that last question was answered. I suddenly understood exactly how her mind worked and many, many other things. And as the months crawled by and Amber stayed in a coma, I began to make a plan."

The image changed, and suddenly I was looking at a mug shot of someone that was much closer to resembling the Amber I knew now. Only there was someone else's name beneath it. I found myself not liking the direction this was headed.

"Sam. I had forgotten her last name but it wasn't important. Murdered her parents and little brother and was getting out on parole. She was a few years older than Amber, but she would do. She didn't deserve the life that was taken from Amber. I sought to correct that."

I felt my mouth go dry as I watched the next memory play out. A day or two spent stalking to the lady. The purchase of drugs. Him putting it into the needle. Him following her one night, injecting it into her neck. And then I watched with horror as her body was lying side by side with Amber, Steven drawing black marks across her forehead.

"It was all set, I just had to make the switch. I would put the murder in the prison my sister's body had become and move my sister to the other one. But there was an issue."

Thankfully, the memories skipped the cutting and the switch itself, but I soon found myself looking at far more of Amber's brain than I ever wanted to.

"Amber was traumatized, I knew these because I understood how her brain worked. I knew what she was going to be like when she woke up. She would be broken, destroyed, never the same again. So I did the only thing I could do, and I erased her memory of it."

I watched him slide a metal rod into the brain now sitting inside the convict's body and felt a little sick to my stomach. This was too much.

"But even that wasn't enough, Amber was missing something. Something that no amount of memory erasing was going to fix, and I was running out of time. So I started doing some rewiring, using the convict's brain to help with the process."

Once again, I was thankful it didn't show me the process. Instead, the memories skipped to the final product with everyone's skull put back on the right way. It showed Steven rolling the new Amber away as the heart monitor of Sam's new body picked up speed, quickly climbing to a hundred beats per minute. The monitor began let out an alarm. The noise faded away as the memory shifted.

The next months worth of memories flew by as quick as the individual events had. Amber waking up, being embraced by her brother. Steven teaching her to walk again. Steven helping Amber adjust her body. Steven stealing the tools she needed for her Tinker stuff. Them celebrating a birthday. Them running from the police. Them breaking into a morgue. Them playing in an arcade. Steven meeting Cheshire for the first time. Cheshire raising an eyebrow at Amber, but not saying anything. Steven, Amber, and Lisa spending hours talking to one another. Each memory they were together, they looked out for each other. They helped one another, no matter what.

Suddenly the memories faded away and something different took its place. Not a memories, the details were missing. This seemed more fabricated, rough around the edges. And more important, it showed something that hadn't happened.

It was Steven talking to me, how he saw me. Large, looking down on him. My wings spread and my mane flowing imperiously as I looked at him judgmentally. I saw him moving his hands in the thought, speaking to me as calmly as he could.

"I won't pretend I lived a blameless life," Steven said. "Not everything I did was morally right and not everything left people unharmed. But everything I did, I did for my sister. And I can honestly say, neither I nor her have ever killed anyone. But that-"

Suddenly, my connection to him shattered as I reached the end of his thought process. My mind surfing abruptly hitting a dead end. And at that moment, both of us snapped back to reality.

* * *

"What… was that?" Steven asked through thick, laboured breath. I suddenly found myself also exhausted and magically drained. In fact, I think more than half of my magic was gone! I could teleport all the way across the city several times and still not be close to that with my new reserves. That was a ridiculous amount of magic I used.

"A… new spell… I just made," I answered as best I could through my own heavy breathing. I got back up on all four hooves with a wobble. I took a moment to catch my breath and then said,

"It was an accident, I wasn't really trying to do that. But I saw it all, everything you wanted to tell me. The accident, the transfer, the days after. I'm sorry about that, I didn't mean to."

"No, it's fine," Steven said, catching his breath. "If you saw it all that means I won't have to go through the trouble of trying to make it all words. If help my case out at all, I'm okay with it."

"Alright," I said dumbly. Suddenly at a loss of what to say. He watched me for a minute, waiting for my answer. All I could say was,

"I need some time to process this."

He nodded sadly. "I understand."

I found the statement morbidly ironic. His power was understanding how things work. When this had first come to light he had told me I simply didn't understand, that it was just how her mind worked. And in a way, it was true. He made it work that way, but it was how her mind worked now. It made me wonder if every time he said someone didn't understand something he was referring to his power. And what did that make his last statement?

As I turned to leave I heard Steven say one more thing.

"Nova, I understand how you feel, and I realize why you thought you had to do something about this. And I don't blame you for it, not a bit. It's my fault, and I can't change that. And while I don't think it would be possible very soon, after this is all over, I still think we could be friends if you want it."

Celestia dang it.

* * *

 _Previous examination found Ergo unlikely of Friendship bond. Host found the path to Friendship bond despite conclusion. Differing to host for reason… Found. Recording as Friendship Lesson #001: Friends can't replace family (maybe)._


	47. Chapter 47

I heaved a sigh as I walked back into the living room. The moment Amber heard my hooves softly impacting the carpet she leapt out of her seat on the sofa. Aisha was awake now, and apparently trying to show Will how to handle a controller for the console we got. And Will apparently found my father's beer. Great.

"Well?" Amber asked hopefully. Lisa rose from her seat, shooting me a curious look as she silently asked me the same question. I quirked my mouth and hung my head.

"I'm not going to turn him into the PRT," I finally managed to sigh.

"Yay!" Amber said, throwing her arms up into the air. I raised an eyebrow at her, that mood of her's seemed to switch on a dime.

"But," I said, instantly causing her face to frown. "I'm letting him go free either. I'm not sure what to think about you and him, but I know you hurt people. Intentionally or not. So instead, I'm keeping Ergo in the basement and I'm keeping you close by. Do you understand?"

Amber bit her lip and sighed, but nodded.

"Good, you can go see him then," I gestured towards the basement door and she eagerly clapped her hands together. Her mood flipping instantly again. She darted past me a moment later, leaving Lisa behind to stare at me.

"Getting in a habit of collecting people in your basement?" Lisa asked with a raised eyebrow. I shrugged.

"I'm a functioning addict," I answered with a weak smile. Lisa rolled her eyes at the half attempted joke.

"You know the PRT wanted you to turn him into them. They aren't going to like it much when they learn you 'didn't capture him'."

I let out a sigh and looked away. "I'm getting really tired of the PRT trying to tell me and other people what to do. I getting to a point where I'm starting not to care what they like."

Lisa actually chuckled at that. After a minute she shook her head and reached into her pocket.

"Well, I'm glad you came to an agreement with Ergo, because we've been working on something together." She pulled out a little device covered in lights.

"What is it?" I asked curiously, moving in to get a closer look.

"A Geiger counter for your magic," she said with a smug look. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Armsmaster had said my magic didn't appear to emit energy," I stated. The memory seemed from so long ago I didn't even remember the details. I did remember being small enough to sit in a chair and having to look up at everyone. I liked being taller.

"It doesn't emit it in any way we've seen before," Lisa explained. "Its actually really complex, but we narrowed down a way." She pressed a button on the side of the device and it began making the familiar sounds of a Geiger counter. She pointed it away from me and then back at me, getting louder the closer it got to me.

"So you two have been able to figure out my magic?" I asked.

"We've been getting closer," Lisa admitted. "But nowhere near the full truth of it."

"Interesting."

"No, what's interesting is this." Lisa reached into her pocket and pulled out what looked like a small gem. She moved her little device towards it and it began to sounds began to tick upwards.

"This is just a small piece of quartz," Lisa explained. "But it's been absorbing you magic like a sponge. Ergo thought you might be able to use it as a battery. I've been thinking you could charge it with an effect like you do the flowers.

"Huh," I said reaching out to take it in my hoof. "I would have never-"

I was cut off by the sound of a muffled explosion coming from downstairs. Lisa's eyes widened considerably.

"That lying bastard," she swore under her breath.

Frankly, that phrase coming from Lisa scared me just a little.

I turned and ran for the basement, stretching my wings as much as I could in the cramped stairway and half gliding all the way down. Lisa was close behind me.

The scene we came onto was a massive hole in the side of the basement, dirt spilling in and the roof catching fire. Ergo and Biohazard were both gone, a single note and two Tinker electric bands left behind in their path. I levitated it out of the dirt and read;

'Explosive appendix :P -Biohazard'

"What?" I asked. "What did they do?"

"They split up and ran away," Lisa said with a scowl. "Ergo with his phase shifter and Biohazard with her flight."

"But he came to me," I started, slamming my hoof against the floor. "He turned himself in. Why would he do that?"

"To make sure you wouldn't chase them," Lisa said bitterly.

That made me pause for a moment. Then I got angry. I might, and that was a heavy 'might', have let them leave the city. I might have been okay with it, if the circumstances were right. And they almost were.

But they came to me for help, attempted to manipulate me, then blew a hole in the side of my house and expected me not to chase them. I felt my magic surge at the thought.

"I'm going after him," I started, flaring my wings widely.

"Taylor," Lisa said, "The house is on fire and the roof is getting ready to collapse. I'm pretty sure they did that on purpose."

I nearly growled as threw magic towards my wings and performed the same vacuum spell I had used on Archer previously. With me controlling the direction, the flames sputtered out without robbing me or Lisa air. I grabbed the house itself next, along with all the dirt and rubble around it. I closed my eyes and attempted to recall what that portion of the wall looked like previously. I felt my magic twitch in a certain direction. I followed it through. It was like telekinesis, as far as I could feel. But it needed something, something to help recombined material. I searched for a moment until I found the right emotion. An odd combination of nostalgia and happy memory itself. I felt the spell click into place and cast it.

When I opened my eyes the wall and building was fixed. I turned around to look at Lisa and saw my Dad fumbling down the steps too.

"What's going on," he asked wearily. I glanced at Lisa and told her,

"Explain it to him, I'm going after them." Before she could answer, I teleported outside and started flying.

* * *

 _Friendshipbond not broken? seems indifferent to fact. Possible Friendship lesson. Possible name 'Frenemy'._

* * *

They were gone. Somehow they disappeared into the night without a trace. When I first left I had caught a little hint of Biohazard smoke trail, but she apparently dived into the bay and was gone. I caught some reports of Ergo's phase shifting around the city, but I had spent too much time chasing Biohazard and he was gone.

If I ever see them again I'm going to… I don't know, drown them in cotton candy or something!

I tried to shake my head clear of the frustration thoughts as I entered my kitchen early the next morning. Hoping to catch some breakfast before heading off to bed to make up some of the sleep I missed.

I paused when I saw Will leaning against the countertop, sandwich halfway raised towards his mouth. He had frozen when he saw me.

We watched each other for a moment. Then he slowly brought the sandwich up and took a bite out of it, not breaking eye contact as he chewed.

"Will?" I asked. "Why aren't you in your cage?"

"You let me out, remember?" Will said with a raised eyebrow. "And then no one thought to put me back, so I've just been hanging around here

"And you made yourself a sandwich?" I said dryly. He shrugged.

"Eh, a guy's gotta eat."

I shook my head at him. He shrugged and took another bite.

"Hey," he said after taking a moment to finish chewing. "I heard you're finally flipping the PRT the bird."

"I wouldn't quite say that," I said slowly.

"I would," Will stated. "They don't do things halfway, if you don't commit to this they'll turn it against you."

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. Will shook his head.

"Alright, take it from a guy whose job it was to fight the PRT's authority. You are either with them or against them, and they don't let you be anything else. If I was going to guess, they probably tried to manipulate you into joining the Wards, and then tried to control you when you didn't."

I opened my mouth to contradict him, but then I remembered what both Piggot and Tagg had done and closed it again. Will nodded with a smug 'that's what I thought' look.

"You fare better than most independents though," Will continued. "You've got power and a fanbase, and that's protected you so far. But the more time you give the PRT to turn PR against you, the sooner you're going to have to make a choice join them or become a villain."

"Other independents exist," I pointed out.

"Other independents aren't the great and powerful Nova," Will countered. "Look, the PRT is a government entity and they really like their control over people. I have no idea what they've done so far, but just knowing them I can tell you that they'll be trying to close their bureaucratic jaws on you the first moment they can. And then you'll either be a villain or a Ward."

"I think there is at least a little bit of wiggle room," I stressed. Will gave a noncommittal shrug.

"Maybe, but not nearly enough room for the great and powerful Nova." Will thought a moment and sighed. "Look, Nova," he began, "I've told Panacea and a few others my story before, but are you aware that I like to think of myself as a hero."

"I've heard of it, but I have my doubts," I responded dryly. Will ignored that bit.

"I think that because I was always loyal to being the best person I could be, no matter what. And because of that, I put my life on the line time and time again to get the information I would eventually give you to take The Sentient down. Regardless of what others think, I was just as much responsible for taking down The Sentient as you."

"What's your point?" I asked.

"My point," Will said, suddenly moving to sit on the countertops as he raised his hands to help illustrate his point. "Is that you want to do good no matter what and you recognize that the PRT is standing in your way some of that time. While you might be able to ignore the PRT, they won't do the same. So you got to make a choice.

"Either you let the PRT control the situation, give them time to paint the all-powerful PR against you, let the noose close around your neck. Or, you take the massive support you have right now, the anti-PRT sentiments you've stoked, and declare the PRT as fake heroes.* Make it clear that you can't trust the PRT. That way, even if the PRT is so bold as to call you a villain after that, it holds no power because everyone will assume they only did it out of spite. People that like you will turn against them, and people that don't like you still won't see you as a villain. You'll be at odds to the PRT, but it'll be in your favour."

He fell silent with his arms held up in a pose. He suddenly realized he was monologuing again and made a face before burying his mouth into his sandwich. I quirked my mouth and thought about it for a good long minute.

He wasn't wrong. Even while locked up in our basement he knew exactly what the PRT had been doing, right down to the threats to my PR Tagg had made last night. And I was extremely annoyed by the PRT, he hit almost every single point. The only thing he missed was the fact that even after purging their ranks of Sentient and rebuilding themselves the PRT was still all about PR. Even trying to get me to do their dirty work for the sake of it. I hated everything they've done recently.

But to declare them as my enemy? That was essentially what Will was saying. I wasn't so sure about doing that, but I could see what he meant. It just had a lot of negative things attached to it I couldn't even begin to fully comprehend. It was rapidly approaching politics. And that was more Will's domain than mine.

"I don't know," I answered noncommittally. "I'm going to talk to Cheshire about it first."

"Alright," Will said with a shrug. "Have fun with that."

I shook my head at him and started walking out of the kitchen. When I got to the door of my room I paused. I thought back to the piece of quartz Lisa had shown me last night.

Maybe I should take some time to really experiment with my power before I go out again.

* * *

A/N:

PRT: Shadow Stalker is a hero now.

Nova: You are fake news.


	48. Chapter 48: Hero (?) Interlude

Biohazard crawled out of the ocean, absolutely drenched in water. Ergo was there waiting for her, holding a dry set of skin and hair for her.

"You think it worked," Biohazard asked, moving to start taking off her skin.

"Well enough," Ergo stated. "She did start chasing us, but at the very least she'll be a little more sympathetic if she does catch us again. And it gave you time to move all our stuff, correct?"

"Eyay!" Biohazard said, taking the dry skin out of her brother's outstretched hands and began slipping it on. "Where are we going to run to now?"

"Russia," Ergo stated. "They might actually not mind your… needs."

"Sounds good." She was about to add something else when suddenly, Quantumlock was standing behind them.

"Here's an idea," he said. "Don't do that." Suddenly, he waved his hand down and gravity suddenly increased, throwing them down against the ground and unable to move. Ergo's hand reached for one of his devices, but suddenly a heeled shoe came down and firmly pressed against his wrist.

"Oh, you don't want to do that darling," Showman's voice said above him. "Now look in the camera sweetie." Ergo twisted his head to see Showman pointing his palm outward at him, a little circle glowing brightly. Suddenly, the circle mechanically shift aside and a little nozzle poked out. A second later, his face was getting covered in foam.

Biohazard suddenly felt the gravity effect fall away from her and scrambled to her feet, only to have her wrists and ankles get seized by some green tentacles. She resisted the urge to cry out as she was lifted off the ground and the tendril pulled her wider. Showman turned and looked at her, his simulated face showing a wide smile.

"And you dear," he started, walking forward with exaggerated hip movements. "Your tech has peaked my interest. I've done my best, but sometimes its just better to get the tech from the source." Showman reached into his belt and pulled out a Tinker tool. His smile widened even more. "What little secrets do you have for me, darling? I get the feeling we're going to be good friends."

Showman took a step forward, the Tinkertool sparking as he did so. Biohazard cringed backward to get away from him when a hand appeared on his shoulder. Showman looked to his side and saw Vibrasonic standing next to him, shaking her head silently. Showman let out a sigh and lower the tool.

"You're right," he said, before immediately perking up again. "Take them to The Lair," he declared, raising a hand in the air, "we're having a party!"

* * *

"Hey Amy," Victoria said, knocking on the door frame as the door was wide open. Amy blinked and looked up from her project, an oak tree the size and style of a Bonsai tree, only with a little door grown into the side.

"Oh, hey Victoria," Amy said with a touch of trepidation creeping into her voice. Victoria made a face when she heard it, but decided not to mention it.

"You got a letter," she said, holding up the envelope for her to see.

"Oh thanks," Amy raised her hand from where she was sitting and a vine crawled out of her sleeve, stretching across the room and plucking the letter out of her hand. Victoria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Hey, if I'm not allowed to fly in the house, you can't make super vines."

"Oh, sorry," Amy said, flinching inwardly as she realized what she did. "It's gotten so second nature to me."

"Yeah, we've noticed," Victoria replied dryly. "And in a roundabout way, I sort of want to talk to you about that."

Amy frowned at her even as she started opening the letter. She was about to answer when she opened the note and her eyes goggled at what she saw. Her jaw fell open and she froze.

"What," Victoria asked, flying across the room to look over her sister's shoulder, completely oblivious to the irony from her previous statement. In Amy's hand was a check from one of the companies she and Nova had given the magic plants to. A check for twenty-five thousand dollars. Victoria whistled.

"That is more than just a little money," she stated, impressed.

"That's a bit of an understatement," Amy replied.

"I thought there was still a few months before they could come out with the potions?"

"This company can afford bioTinkers, they probably accelerated their growth to get a jump on the market."

"Well, if you're not cheating you're not trying, I guess."

Amy turned around a grinned at Victoria. "Think you could fly me to the bank?"

Victoria fixed her with a flat look.

"Can we talk first?"

Amy's look soured.

"Can we do it on the way?"

Victoria quirked her mouth to the side. "Fine," she compromised. She walked over to the window, pushing Amy's pet tree to the side and opening it widely before floating out. She righted herself and turned around, holding her arms out for Amy. Amy went forward with practiced motions, crawling out the window and practically falling into her sister's grip. Immediately, Victoria began flying upwards.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Amy asked uncomfortably once they were high enough. Victoria was flying at a leisure pace, like walking but in the air.

"Nova," she stated. "And you."

"Oh."

Victoria let out a sigh and shook her head. "Look," she began, "I know we've fought a couple times recently, and I guess that a little bit my fault but I don't want to fight you, Amy." Victoria paused and looked at her. Amy stayed silent.

"I know you feel Mom has it out for you, and I'm not going to try to tell you otherwise, but you know that I don't, right?" Amy nodded her head stiffly. Victoria took it as a win and smiled. "Good, cuz I'm supposed to look out for you, and if you think Mom is really doing those things, I'll help you."

"... Promise?" Amy asked.

"Promise. Just quit running away and hiding from me and the others."

"Alright," Amy said with a nod. "I can do that."

"Great," Victoria said, a full smile growing on her face for the first time today. "Now I'm really excited to see you becoming an action fighting hero, but you gotta start letting me come with you."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Amy stated with as much false nonchalance as she could. Victoria raised an eyebrow at her.

"Really? Alright then… Flower Knight."

Amy shot Victoria a look, making her grin.

"There is one more thing, though," Victoria said. "And it's Nova. I was thinking you could be New Wave's go-between? It's been really hard to stay on the same page as her, and she is all over the place. It's driving everyone nuts. You think you can help us with that?"

Amy shrugged her shoulders as best she could in the way she was being held. "I guess so, it would be nice to spend more time with Nova too."

"Sure."

They were silent for a long moment after that until Victoria finally said,

"Was that the entire conversation? That's all we needed to say these last few weeks?"

"I guess, yeah," Amy admitted.

"Wow, we are dysfunctional."

"Pretty much."

* * *

Vista watched carefully as Phlegm, the Merchant Tinker Team Vigil had caught, ran down the alley. Miss Militia seemed too busy fighting Needle and Black Tar to notice him escaping. That left two Merchant capes unaccounted for, Whirlygig and Choker.

Vista glanced at Arsenal beside her on the roof and silently asked if she was ready by jerking her head in Phlegm's direction. Arsenal brought out a taser gun and a cattle prod in the other and nodded with a grin. Vista grinned back and shrank the distance between them and the Tinker on the ground.

Together they took a step off the roof and suddenly they were in front of the villain.

Phlegm wore a thick pair of glasses and a dirty bandana over the lower half of his face. Normally he would have worn some Tinker armour but having just escaped from his cell, all he had was two tiny little guns Black Tar had given him.

Immediately he raised the guns and fired them. Vista bent space around her so that the beams wouldn't hit, but they didn't' seem aimed at them. The two beams hit the brick wall of the building to their left and the concrete beneath them, leaving behind holes large enough to stick an arm through.

Suddenly, armour began to grow around him. Seemingly liquid concrete and brick flowing over his body. Arsenal raised her taser gun and fired, but the prongs bounced uselessly off his new rocky exterior.

Vista stretched space again and grabbed on to Arsenal's shoulder, pulling her back as she put some distance between them and the Tinker.

"You got something for that?" Vista asked, as soon as they were a safe distance away. Arsenal quirked her mouth a moment and answered with,

"Nothing that would keep him alive very long. And I only have so much chlorine trifluoride, not exactly easy to get or store."

At that moment, the shadow of a nearby building bulge outward and a black serpent-like appendage shot forward and wrapped around Vista's neck before she realized what was happening. Arsenal responded immediately, pressing a button on her cattle prod that caused it begin to shift and change. In a second, it looked like a little grenade that Arsenal tossed at the shadow where Choker's snake arm was coming out of.

When the flash bang went off it completely disintegrated the snake arm, leaving a man standing alone in the alley as he held on to his damaged eyes. Vista closed the distance between them, literally, and threw her weight into a stomp kick right into his chest, sending the man reeling.

Turning back towards Phlegm she saw Arsenal attempting to slow him down with containment foam grenades. But his Tinker beams ate through it just as much as it had the brick of the buildings.

Vista paused for a moment and considered her options. After a second, she reached forward and plucked a taser off Arsenal's belt. She probably wouldn't miss it.

Vista jumped upward, stretching space so she landed on top of the nearest building. She ran forward and jumped off the side, landing on the ground behind Phlegm. It put her between him and Needle, but so long as Miss Militia kept her occupied she probably wouldn't bother Vista in the alley.

She took a moment to measure her strike, and when she says an opening she launched forward. Burying the prongs of the taser in an uncovered area behind him where he didn't seem to think to cover. Phlegm seized up immediately and fell forward, collapsing on the ground.

"Sweet," Arsenal said, clapping her hands together cheerfully.

"Give me handcuffs," Vista said, "And then go take care of Choker, make sure he can't sneak up on us."

"The taser is also handcuffs," Arsenal said, half running half skipping the other direction. "Just press the button!"

Vista looked down at the taser. It was Tinkertech, not very high quality, but Tinker tech none the less. After a moment, she found the button and the device began shifting in her hands. She wasn't quite sure where she was supposed to hold on to it as it changed, so she just kept her palm open and let it take its course.

Eventually, it finished on a fancy looking pair of handcuffs. Vista considered them a moment, making sure they still worked like normal handcuffs, before slapping them on Phlegm's wrists. She reached into a little pouch on her costume and brought out the little capsules the PRT had given to her beforehand. Carefully as she could, she took out two little pills and broke the seals, dropping them on Phlegm where his arms were near his body. For a moment, nothing happened, Then the pills released containment foam that began rapidly expanding around his limbs, pinning his arms to his side.

At that moment, Arsenal skipped back up to her and shrugged.

"Choker left, I have seen him since I flashed him."

"Damn," Vista swore. It would have been nice to get two villains at once, but one would have to do.

"Hey, sweet takedown on him," Arsenal said. "Do you do that a lot?"

"No, not really," Vista admitted. "The PRT doesn't like me getting that hands on most of the time. Normally I would just keep him from escaping, hinder his movements and whatnot, among a few other tricks."

"Well, that's dumb."

"Yeah," Vista sighed. "It's going to suck when I have to go back to the Wards."

"Why go back?" Arsenal asked curiously.

"What do you mean?"

"If the PRT doesn't let you do things, why go back at all? Nova says all the PRT cares about is their image."

"Well, she isn't completely wrong," Vista admitted. "But I'm already part of the Wards, I can't just stop now. And Nova's New Wave, so she can do things we can."

"Oh…" Arsenal said, racking her brain with thought. After a minute, something clicked for her.

"Hey, I'm independent!" She pretty much cheered. "You think Nova and I could be a team?"

"I'm pretty sure Nova already have a team," Vista pointed out.

"Yeah, but I bet they can't make handcuff tasers."

Vista smile and rolled her eyes. "What is it you like about Nova anyway?"

Behind her mask, Arsenal's eyes widened immensely.

"What isn't to like about her? She big, and powerful, and fluffy, and has magic, is powerful, a unicorn, part of New Wave, and powerful, and can fly, and teleport, and is really, really powerful. What's not to like?" Arsenal's smile widened into a full grin.

"Who wouldn't give their right arm to get the chance to help her? It would be the greatest thing in the world, in the universe!"

"That's… great, I guess." Vista said skeptically. Arsenal tilted her head at her curiously.

"I bet if you dropped out of the Wards and joined Nova they'd let you do it because she's so awesome."

Vista glanced down at the Merchant cape a moment and then back up at Arsenal.

"I doubt it," she replied.


	49. Chapter 49

What was a spell? What was it really? I knew how to make them, to some degree at least. But it wasn't exactly a science. I wanted something, my magic begins to work in that direction without my input, I follow through on what it was trying to do with my intent behind it. Then I apply the proper emotion, a catalyst or binding somehow, and it completes the spell. That was a whole lot of intangible things all playing towards any number of possibilities.

But there was another aspect to it, something that while I acknowledge sometimes I didn't always pay attention to it. Lenses.

When I make a spell, it's the only time I ever have to make it. When I teleport all I have to do is want to be someplace, unlike when I had first created the spell. Same thing with my magic wings capable of sucking the air out of the room, I just needed to move my magic to my wings and give them a flap with some intent in mind. I didn't need to remake the spell every single time I needed to use it. The reason I didn't have to do this was because of the lenses.

I called them lenses anyway, and I wasn't perfectly sure what they were. If I thought of my magic like a beam of light, then each spell was just a way of focusing it in a particular manner. Like moving a lens in front of the beam.

The only reason I thought this was simply because of how I didn't need to perform the exact same process performing a spell as I needed to create the spell. It was like once I knew it, I had the lens stored away to draw on the next time I needed to cast it.

So that became my question, what does a lens look like and can I draw it?

I started simple. I got a piece of quartz and started throwing everything I could think of at it.

It wasn't like the flowers. It didn't draw on my energy, just absorbed it when the magic happened across it. I tried cycling through emotions and memories with it, but nothing seemed to stick or attract. I did notice the gem getting shinier, more smooth around the edges and generally more cartoonish. But that wasn't what I wanted, and it wasn't playing on any of the lenses.

I moved to the very first spell I had ever learned. My shield spell. At first, I just prepared the idea of the spell, moving my mental lense in hopes it would make a physical lense. No such luck. My next attempt was to try casting the spell, but directing it towards the gem. After some fine tuning, I manage to get a separate shield around the rock but no lense.

My successful, and therefore final, attempt was probably the most obvious. I closed my eyes and focused on the idea of protection rather than the spell itself. For the first time, I felt my magic respond, twitching in one particular direction. I followed it and continued to work towards it. I pushed raw magic out of my horn and poured it right into the gem, keeping the concept of protection in my mind. I was on the right track, but I needed more.

I attempted to combine thinking about protection and going back to the shield spell itself. This time, with both parts working in tandem, I felt my magic to continue to flow in one direction in a metaphysical sense that was hard to describe. It was something I felt before when making spells, but it had always been based on a sense of instinct. Here I was wandering in the dark and it gave me a better sense of exactly how my magic was reacting to my actions.

Trying to think of a metaphor for the feeling, I found there wasn't quite anything for it. I could have combined to unrelated ones, but it would have just made it confusing. It was like… my magic knew what I wanted, or when I wanted something I shoved my magic in a direction. And then when I toyed with ideas, emotions, spells, and anything else I was opening doors that might lead somewhere. But some doors only had brick walls behind them, so my magic didn't go through. Other times they didn't.

The gem itself and the idea of infusing it with a shield spell was just a direction, a way of pushing my magic that I have no idea to see if it would work. Thinking of a concept of protection was one door, combine it with my knowledge of the shield spell was yet another. But I had hit the end of the path that I get too much quicker with spells. A point of catalyst that binds the effect.

It took a long time of cycling through my thoughts and feelings to find what I needed. Unlike with all my spells, my magic didn't seem interested in giving me any instinct or hints towards what it was I needed. Which made finding it increasingly difficult as I learned it was a rather complex emotion.

The emotion was… odd. It wasn't just one thing. It took my hopes for the future, feelings for my friends, my relationship with my dad, and a certain… attachment to this place. 'This place' being relative. As it seemed like it was going to work with my feeling of the house but got much stronger with thoughts of Brockton Bay as a whole.

It was like the light and love of my soul had to get dragged out of the depths of me to fuel this gem.

My eyes flew open as I felt the gem in my hand get extremely hot. I had no idea how long I had spent holding this little rock, but long enough that my foreleg had gotten tired and my… Elbow? Knee? Something had gotten stiff.

I dropped the rock on to the floor of my room as I saw something getting burned into the side of it. It was a circle, only the size of a pea on the largest facet of the gem. I only got a few seconds to see it before it began to fade, but it was long enough for me to pick up the detail of it.

Immediately, I grabbed a sheet of paper and a pen with my telekinesis and began sketching it before it could fade from my memory. The circle was a simple design, tiny little circles lining the diameter of it and slightly curved lines connecting them.

So that was it, the Lens of protection. I couldn't help but smile at it.

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I grabbed the knob and opened it to reveal Lisa on the other side. The moment we made eye contact she raised an eyebrow and I knew her power had told her something.

Unable to resist, I picked the gem off the floor with my magic and tossed it to Lisa with a smile. She caught it and instantly looked even more confused.

"Don't move a moment," I told her, "I want to test something." I levitated the pen I had been holding higher and then launched it as hard as I could at Lisa, aiming for her chest so I didn't stab her face in case this didn't work. But about a foot away from her a purple bubble of light formed and stopped the pen in its tracks. Suddenly, both Lisa and I were grinning wildly.

"One more thing before we really get into this," I said, cutting her off before she even started. "What do you get when you look at this?" I lifted the paper with the Lens on it and showed it to her.

"No clue what so ever," she answered with a shake of her head.

"Then we're probably going to need more paper," I stated.

"Paper? No, we're going to need much more than paper. We need gems and a lot of them. Different shapes, different kinds, different sizes. We need to test everything, every aspect possible. I can already feel the Thinker headache and I don't even care."

"That's going to take a lot of money," I pointed out to her. In response, she held up an envelope for me to see.

"Not a problem."

* * *

For perspective, I had gone to sleep at about six in the morning and slept till noon before I even got to my little experiment that led to the tiny gemstone becoming a personal shield. When Lisa had come in it had only been one or two in the afternoon, but we didn't stop until my father had come home from work near eight. Which was apparently still a thing he did.

I hadn't even realized the build up around us until Dad came into the room. Lenses covered the wall, each one modified and experimented with several dozen times over and organized by complexity. Gemstones were scattered across a desk I had put in my room, with Lisa bent over them as she examined them critically. She had long since burnt her power out, but that didn't make her useless in organizing it all. My own magic reserves had taken some hits. Aisha had become something of a guinea pig and tester, mostly getting to throw things at Lisa to see if something worked.

And at some point, Will had started lounging on my bed with a book titled 'Magic for dummies'. Not completely sure what that was about.

"So," my dad stated awkwardly, looking at the hurricane of pure magic innovations that had attacked my room. "I take it things are going well?"

"Well," Aisha began. "We've only set Lisa on fire once, so I would say so."

"That's good," my dad said with a nod. "I guess this means we're getting dinner delivered?"

"Sounds good to me," I answered, offering him a smile. He matched it with his own as he said,

"Well you kids, and Will, don't stay up too late then. I'll give you a called when dinner is here."

"Wait," Will suddenly said, snapping his book shut and standing up. "Any chance getting drunk would increase the chance that I might think of something clever in regards to magic?"

"Probably not," Lisa answered nonchalantly, not even looking up from the table. Will, undeterred, simply said,

"Probably isn't a no! I must follow this hypothesis to its logical conclusion. Combining magic babble with alcohol, nothing could possibly go wrong. Danny, will you assist me in this endeavor?"

"Uh, sure," Dad responded with an expression that made it hard to tell if he was pleased or confused. Maybe he was both.

The two of them left, leaving the three of us with a massive amount of testing and experimenting left to do. I turned back towards the Lens I had been working on, a spell for fire ironically. I had also discovered a number of spells while doing this, which only increased the number of directions when might take this.

So much work to do and only so much of the night to do it in.

* * *

At least my father had the decency to fall asleep in his chair. Drunk Will, though, seemed to find the kitchen table a suitable enough location to pass out for the night. And he seemed to have left behind a mound of papers.

"Drunk Will takes notes?" I asked as Lisa started poking around the mess he had left.

"Apparently," she answered. "And they're surprisingly legible, just completely disorganized."

"So if he was on to anything it would be impossible to find until he woke up?" I asked.

"Don't be so sure." Lisa slowly pulled a piece of paper out from underneath Will's head and held it up for me to see. It was titled as 'How I Think Magic Works Monologue' underlined three times.

I face-hoofed.

Lisa turned the paper over and began scanning through it. Her eyebrow raised critically after a few seconds and her mouth quirked.

"Well?" I asked.

"He included stage directions," Lisa stated. "And they only serve to make him look drunk."

"Odd, but fitting. Anything else?"

"It's really… weird," Lisa said honestly. "He seemed to come to the conclusion that magic works in a lot of confusing abstracts and symbolism. He wanted to increase his imagination and ability to think outside the box by getting drunk. Half of this is drunken suggestions as to what might symbolically mean what."

"So… nothing?"

"Well, no," Lisa amended. "We've done a great job exploring the rules of your magic, the more logical side of things. Will might have been onto something here, somewhere. Like this one," she turned the paper around to show me, pointing at a little picture drawn in the margins.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Will saw the gems you've enchanted give us minor forms of spells you can cast and started to think a larger gem, fitted inside jewelry that is also enchanted, could hold something more complex. Or rather, give us the ability to cast spells."

"Jewelry?" I asked.

"Yes, like a necklace or a ring. His design is kind of lame, but he might be on to something when it comes to jewelry. You've already created potions and you've found a way to enchant gems. The next logical step would be enchanted weapons and armour. Or at least that's what Will said. He keeps talking about video games and how they represent magic. Clearly, Drunk Will was thinking on a different level."

"So what is the next step?" I asked, grabbing the paper out of her hand and examining it closer. While the writing itself seemed very Will, there were dozens of drunken notes and drawings scrawled along the sides.

"Well, if you really wanted to check the jewelry option," Lisa began, "then we're going to need to get an amulet."


	50. Chapter 50

As it turns out, Will wasn't quite right in his idea. While enchanting the jewelry had let me make some more complex items, they didn't give Lisa any ability to cast active magic. But I did discover that metal was better at holding a Lense. Combining a metal with a gem allowed me to make the gem a simple battery and the metal itself was the thing it powered.

Currently, I was working on something slightly more complex. Lisa had purchased a lot of gems with the money we had received, but one of the biggest was a large ruby gem. It had been cut thin to sit inside a piece jewelry, almost triangular but more stereotypical of a gem. I used a combination of the fire spell and my telekinesis to bend a grey metal around it before moving to enchant it.

My goal was to create something much more powerful than what I've experimented with before. With all the Lenses Lisa and I had discovered I would more or less program the metal with every Lens I could give it, make it more like a codex of spells. I would then place every energy increasing or efficiency affecting Lens on the gem itself. Hopefully, by making the metal capable of casting as many spells as possible and making the gem powerful this new amulet would be able to accomplish the idea Will had originally come up with. The idea of Lisa or Aisha able to cast magic alongside me sounded like an amazing concept. But every attempt before it had failed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. I looked up from the kitchen table where I had been working and realized the house was empty. Aisha and Lisa had left at some point, and my father was already gone. Which just left Will who was sitting on the couch with his Magic for Dummies book and a deck of cards he was practicing with. I got the impression he was studying a different kind of magic.

I walked across the room and answered the door, somewhat surprised when I saw Carol, Mark, and Amy standing outside.

"Good morning Taylor," Carol said with a somewhat cold tone in her voice. "We were wondering if we could talk."

"Uh, yes, of course," I answered oddly, stepping aside to let them in. "Er, Will?" I called. "Why don't you go downstairs for a bit."

Will looked up and blinked for a moment and shrugged. He stood up with a deck of cards in one hand. Except when he passed a hand over them they disappeared, giving him a free hand to pick up his book and disappear downstairs with a silly grin on his face.

Carol pinched the bridge of her nose and shook her head.

"What, exactly, is he still doing here?" She asked. "And when do you plan on turning him in?"

"He is still here because pieces of The Sentient still exist," I answered curtly, "even if they aren't much of a problem anymore."

"You do realize that if anyone else were to find out about this you could be tried for kidnapping at best, and aiding a wanted felon at worst."

"I'm holding him in my custody as Nova," I stated seriously. "And he surrendered voluntarily before providing critical information that went into taking down The Sentient."

"Your custody?" Carol said with a raised eyebrow. "Because it looked like he was practicing magic tricks on your couch."

"Maybe we should talk about something else," Mark said suddenly. "Like the reason we came here today."

"Alright, I'm good with that," I said with a nod. Carol frowned but said nothing. The three of them took seats on my couch while I stood nearby. I was too large for most seats in the house.

"So first things first," Mark began. "We want you to take Amy with you wherever you go out from this moment going forward. It will help us all stay on the same page as each other."

"I'm okay with that," I said with a nod. I saw a slight smile cross Amy's face.

"Good," Mark said with a nod. "Then next would be that in two days the PRT will be hosting a celebration as they get reinstated in the city. Director Piggot will be returning, Alexandria will make an appearance, and as New Wave's most powerful cape we would like you to be there as well."

I quirked my mouth as I considered it. I still hadn't come to a decision on the PRT and what I was going to do. And while I doubted they were going to do anything to me if I went to this event, that wouldn't stop Piggot or Tagg from having a 'conversation' with me. And since I failed to retrieve Ergo and Biohazard, I'm sure they were going to have more pointed words with me.

But then again, I had Mark and Carol right in front of me. Maybe I had been thinking of this wrong? I didn't necessarily need to condemn the PRT outright to get them off my back. I just needed to make a buffer.

"About the PRT," I began, "They've been a little… pushy with me."

"What do you mean?" Mark asked. Carol gave me an odd look.

"I met with Director Tagg one night and he basically blackmailed me. Bringing up all the events of property damage and when the others and I stormed The Sentient's main base."

"That's ridiculous," Carol said immediately. "All of those things would be defensible in court."

"You said he blackmailed you," Mark said seriously. "What was he trying to get?"

"One of the new Wards, the ones that had all previously been criminals, stole some files from Cornucopia when we attack their headquarters. They wanted me to arrest him to avoid some of the negative PR or to shift it onto me, I'm not sure."

"Who?" Carol asked. "And did you get them?"

"Erg- Er, I mean Thusly and his sister Self-Made. And no, they managed to get away and they probably got out of the city."

"Hmm," Mark said, chewing on his thumbnail as he considered it. "That's troubling."

"But not an issue," Carol answered. "If anyone in the PRT tries to put these charges on you they'll be charging New Wave as well, and they don't want that."

"So you can help me with this?" I asked, not quite believing how well this was working.

"Yes," Carol responded immediately. "It wouldn't be the first time the PRT attempt to control or manipulated one of us. They tried it with Victoria as well, particularly as her property damage far exceeds what you've accomplished. Though, I'm not sure how long it will stay that way."

"Well, that's good to hear," I admitted. "Now about this party you want me to-"

I was cut off by the sound of Endbringer sirens going off. We all looked at each other and grimaced. I supposed all plans were going to have to wait.

Cheshire and Imp managed to get to the meeting before I had. Cheshire, strangely, was holding a heavy bag that clinked when it moved. I would have asked her about it, but there wasn't any time to as the meeting was started when Legend came into the room.

All the heroes and villains immediately turned to him. Lung was here, along with every Empire cape that was still standing. I didn't see Supesu, which bothered me slightly, but there were more important things.

"Everyone," Legend said, walking to the front of the long room we had all gathered in. "We have a problem. In one hour, the Simurgh will be over the city in two hours."

We all fell silent. Out of all of them, why did it have to be Simurgh? No matter what happens, you always lose.

"In approximately six hours," Legend continued, "The Leviathan will be here."

The shock of that statement spread through the crowd instantly, but before anyone could reasonably process that Legend put the final nail in the coffin.

"And in approximately eleven hours, the Behemoth will arrive."

I… don't know. The very idea of that was just… impossible to imagine. And I wasn't the only one, the room was filled with a silent awe of people not knowing what they were supposed to be feeling. Like they knew whatever emotion they were capable of showing wouldn't do the situation justice, so the only thing we felt was numb shock as our brains went into gridlock.

A small part of me wondered what sort of enchantment I could make with that kind of emotion.

"Currently, we are attempting a city-wide evacuation." Legend stated, a grim look on his face. "Judging by the speed of the Simurgh, we don't believe they're going to attack one at a time either. It is more than likely she is at least going to wait for the Leviathan, giving us more time to evacuate the city. But once they do attack, it is very unlikely that there is going to be much of a city left protect. I would suggest-"

"Wait," A voice called out. I look around and saw Cheshire walking forward and felt my eyes go wide. "I think I have a way to save the city from getting completely flattened."

"I don't believe I know you," Legend said slowly.

"Its Cheshire," she stated quickly.

"Well, Cheshire, if you think you have something, by all means," he waved his air widely. "Tell us. I'm sure we'll take anything at this point."

"Gladly," Cheshire said with a nod. "Imp, do it." As she said it, a small rock flew through the air and nearly struck her before hitting the protection enchantment I had given her. As the rock fell to the ground, Cheshire pulled out the little gemstone holding the protection.

"This," she declared holding the stone up, "is a gemstone that Nova enchanted to give the holder a protective field around them. And these-" Cheshire slipped the stone back into her belt and reached into the bag she had been carrying. She withdrew a handful of smaller stone and showed everyone. "-are gemstones yet to be enchanted. These gems have to be charged with an emotion. If Nova throws magic into these gems and then each one of you pour your want to save this city into the stone then they can all become a protective field.

"I think, that if we got as many gemstones as possible and got everyone evacuating the city to pour that feeling into a stone as they left it would be possible to bind them all together to create one massive shield over the whole city."

It was insane. We had never tried anything like that before. I had no idea if it was even possible to bind all the stones together like she was suggesting. I didn't even know where we would get the stones. Not to mention she was basically making it all up as she went. The idea of another person being able to charge a stone with an emotion was something we barely talked about, let alone even tested! This was more than a shot in the dark.

But if it worked, it might give us a fighting chance against all three Endbringers.

Dear Celestia, please let this work.


	51. Chapter 51

I watched as the Panacea grew the tree larger and larger. Its root shad already permeated the asphalt beneath it and its trunk was large than a car. And it only continued to grow larger, making the ground continue to crack and fall apart.

"What are you doing," I asked as I walked up to her, Cheshire riding on my back.

"I'm going to hold this city together," she answered.

"Oh," Cheshire stated, her eyes going wide. "That's actually pretty smart."

"Alright, fill me in," I stated, looking between the two.

"This city sits on an aquifer," Cheshire explained. "If it were just Leviathan we'd be at risk that a large portion of the city would fall into it. But Panacea is going to grow a massive tree to hold the entire city in place."

"Yes," Panacea confirmed. "It's going to take hours, but with enough time I can create a tree so massive with its roots spread so wide that it should hold everything together, inside the city and out."

"Is the Protectorate okay with this?" I asked. Panacea shrugged, taking a step back as her tree continued to grow.

"We're about to get hit by all three Endbringers, they'll willing to accept anything that might at least slow them down. And this tree combined magic circuits might make most of the Leviathans attacks negligible."

I nodded. Of course, she didn't say anything about the other two. She didn't need to. "That sounds good. Anyone else have another bright idea like that?"

"Lung thinks Supesu might have something," Cheshire stated. "But past that, our shield idea is the only thing we have going for us."

"A shield idea that might not even work," I said bitterly.

"Hey, don't underestimate hope. Particularly when it might affect the power of the enchantment. Dragon says that they're ready when you are, so let get this done and then we can meet up with Imp and Desh."

I took a deep breath and sighed. But instead of responding, I simply took off into the air. I flew upwards, towards a skyscraper roof. After a second, I just teleported there and took in the sight of the city.

Miles above us, the Simurgh circled like a vulture. I felt a chill go down my spine.

Cheshire slid off my back and began pulling potions out of my saddlebags. Each one was a potion meant to increase my magic. I spent a large amount of the last few hours charging oils as Panacea grew plants and Cheshire brewed things. Dragon and others went out of their way to get the gemstone they would need. And now we should be ready.

I couldn't go through and give each stone a Lens individually, that was sort of the idea of getting every person that was leaving the city to charge it. A lot more could be done much, much quicker. But so long as there was magic for the stones to draw on, they could charge with the right emotion. If it worked, then the idea would be that I could either bind them all together and enchant a single Lens, or I could arrange them like a million little batteries charging one Lense. But at this point, everything was up in the air.

I took a breath and looked at Cheshire for a moment. She was watching me intently, the dozens of potions in front of her.

"What if it doesn't work?" I asked.

"Then we're screwed," she answered immediately. "But personally, I would like it better if you tried."

I nodded glumly. She was right, of course. It was this or a very impossible battle. With that in mind, I start letting my magic flow as hard as I could.

My horn quickly reached light intensity far more than blinding as my silvery purple magic flew across the city. It coated every surface, sank into walls, encased people, wrapped around plants, and most importantly, began to sink into gemstones across the city. But even as my raw energy began to spread over furthest edges of the city, I felt my magic reserves rapidly diminishing. Already I was at half strength and the gemstones only just begun to pass hands. I could feel them grow brighter as emotions flowed into them. But there wasn't going to be enough time. There simply wasn't enough magic.

I felt a potion get pressed against my muzzle and I instantly took it in my telekinesis, barely a drop in the ocean compared to what I was releasing. I popped the cap and started drinking it as fast as I could. The vaguely fruity flavour was a nice bit of contrast to the effort I was putting into the massive release of the energy. I threw the bottle away and quickly grabbed another one.

For what seemed like ages I slogged down potions. I drank and drank, forcing magic out of me like a fire hose. My whole horn began to ache and the amount of potions I was chugging was beginning to make me feel sick, but I pushed forward. We needed more magic, they needed more time.

To distract myself from the discomfort, I attempted to focus on the details of the city. But there was so much too look at. Both on the surface and under it. The tree Panacea had begun while ago was still growing and it had already become massive, with its trunk beginning to rival skyscrapers in its scope. The roots were burrowing deeper and deeper, stripping all of the soil, worms, bugs, and plants of their material to feed the tree. Through magic alone, I could feel the roots also slowly siphoning water from the ocean as the tree's grip on the city continued to strengthen.

I looked towards the gemstones and felt them all glowing brightly, burning with magic and emotions. I could feel the people too as they looked at the light my horn was casting. Their emotions seemed to be running higher now. Maybe it was the magic? Or maybe it was the light I was casting. I wouldn't know, because at the moment I stuck out a hoof for Cheshire to place another potion into it, but nothing came.

I tried to maintain the flow of energy for as long as I could, but I was casting it over too wide an area where thousands of tiny stones were slowly sapping it all away. I felt a mind splitting headache form long before my magic actually ran out, but I continued to push. And I pushed, and pushed more, until every last drop of energy I had seeped out of my horn and suddenly my mind shattered.

* * *

I saw the city sitting as a black canvas against a grey background. My energy making a massive circle around it. But in the blackness, I saw stars. No, not stars, gems. Each one was glowing, mostly they were all white, but some glowed red and a few glowed blue. The incorrect emotions, I guess. Perhaps I could use them for something else, but right now I needed to create something to protect this city.

Immediately, the white starry glow of the gemstones responded to me, coming forward through the blackness. Somehow, I touched them despite the lack of hoofs. Or a body at all for that matter. In truth, I had no idea what was going on or what I was. I did know that these stones were supposed to protect the city.

I began to bring them all to me, the approximate location I had been inside of the city. Recognized it as one of the buildings next to the massive tree currently growing out of the ground. The lights responded immediately, moving out of their clusters where they had been gathers and flying towards where I directed them. They moved like they were wading through syrup, flying through space at a glacial pace. But slowly, they arrived. Each little star hitting one another at a single location, the bright glow of their power becoming almost blinding. Fitting, for a bunch of stars.

Now that they were all in one place, I needed them to become one. Something that would protect the city. Something that would spare it the elemental wrath of the Endbringers. It needed to become a shield against all outside forces.

At first, I felt like I could do it. I envisioned the Lens, I poured my soul into the effect. I cycled through every last emotion I had to get it there. But it wasn't enough. Even as I saw the stars fusing together with each other, it was all one stone at a time among thousands. We didn't have that kind of time and I didn't have enough emotion to bind it.

But everyone else did.

I looked out across the city again. People were almost leaking with emotions. Most of them weren't good. Fear, anxiety, pain, sadness. But there were others, ones I could use. I found people holding on to their families burning with love. I found many standing outside the city filled with relief. I found criminals looting buildings showing joy. But most of all, I found people looking at the light of my horn filled with hope. Enough hope to bind these stones together. I grabbed on to everything I could and I pushed them into the stones, hoping against hope that it would work. Every hopeful and loving person in the city all working to bind these stars together. I felt the emotions give way and all the stars snap into place.

And then my mind reformed.

* * *

I found myself lying on the ground, empty bottles thrown everywhere, my head throbbing like I had never felt before, my horn feeling like it had been used as a tuning fork, and even my body felt weak. Probably on account of me no longer having my magic flowing into my wings and otherwise. I squeezed my eyes shut as my head continued to pound.

"What happened?" I asked with a groan, rubbing my head with a hoof. I heard Cheshire answer me quietly.

"That happened."

Slowly, I cracked open my eyes to see what she was referring to. I hissed as the light felt like a knife getting shoved into my skull. But what I saw made it worth it.

Because floating above the ground not five feet from me was a single crystal heart.


	52. Chapter 52

The tree had changed. Panacea was still growing it, somehow. But being filled with magic circuits, being right next to me as I shot out magic at unprecedented levels, and then being right next to the Crystal Heart when it formed had changed it. Changed it into a tree of massive crystal.

Granted, for almost an hour the entire city looked had looked like crystal after the Heart was created, but that effect eventually faded. The tree, however, stayed crystal. Even the leaves were crystal, mixed with an incredible organic design to them. It was strangely beautiful, perhaps unsurprisingly.

"How are you still able to manipulate it?" I asked. Panacea, pressing both hands to the tree face, frowned as she considered.

"It's still alive," she began slowly. "Fully organic in every way, only now all the wood and leaves and otherwise now have a crystalline structure to them. It's… really weird, but not impossible. A person's fingernails and hair are vaguely crystalline. The colour blue can only be made organically by have special structures that meant to reflect that part of light. So it's not unprecedented, but still this is…"

"Not normal." I finished.

"Right," she said with a nod. "The leaves don't have any chlorophyll anymore, instead it looks like they are turning sunlight into magic."

"Photosynthesis?" I asked with raised eyebrows.

"Something like that. It is incredibly strange, the magic circuits are… not really circuits anymore. They're as large of the tree itself, overlapping every single part of the organic crystal structures in a way I could never recreate on my own. Essentially, the tree is more magic than it is tree."

"Is it stronger at all?" I asked. "It will still hold the city together, right?"

"It should," she answered. "But with all the magic in it, I have no idea what will happen."

I nodded, not thinking of anything to add to that. The tree was massive, taller than most skyscrapers and its leaf coverage stretched several blocks by now. It was an impressive sight. Particularly as it blocked the Simurgh from sight.

"I'm going to go and talk with the other capes," I told her. "See what finally preparations are needed."

"Alright," Panacea responded absently, not looking away from the tree. "I'll be here."

I nodded one more time before turning around and looked up at the building where Cheshire was playing with the Crystal Heart. I gave my wings a stretch. I had a little bit of magic back, enough that my wings were able to lift me. Moving them after having expended every last bit of magic in me felt like I had liquid concrete in the joints. I did my best to shake the stiffness from them before taking off, but the difference was negligible.

The Crystal Heart floated on its own, with no input from me or Cheshire. Fueled by its own massive reserves of magic. Looking outwards towards the ocean I could see the shimmer of the protective field the Heart was generating. But past that, I could see a massive deformation in the water where the Leviathan was lurking. A massive bulge constantly rising upward as more and more water drew into the effect. One more thing that was concerning everyone.

"Learn anything?" I asked, landing next to her.

"Nope," she answered immediately. "The Heart is like a white dwarf of magic energy. Probably because of the sheer mass of stones that went into it."

"Did you see how it formed?" I asked.

"Nope. One moment you're casting your magic, and the next moment you're on the ground and the Crystal Heart is floating here. And from what I heard, everyone else was passing out crystals one moment and then suddenly almost every crystal they had charged disappeared. Curiously, some stayed behind."

"They had the wrong emotion," I stated.

"Ah, that makes sense. People are probably feeling a lot of things right now, them being able to correctly charge each crystal every single would be ridiculous."

"I guess," I glanced one more time at the massive bubble of water that was forming outside the bay. The sun was beginning to set, casting an orange glow over the area. "Are you ready to meet up with the others?"

She shrugged and stepped away from the heart. She looked up at the Crystal Tree for a moment and considered something.

"You should put the Heart up there, it'll probably be a better place than on this random rooftop. But otherwise, yeah, let's go."

I knelt down and let her climb onto my back before taking the Heart in my hoofs. I was lower on magic than I have ever been since first starting and I really didn't want to attempt telekinesis when my headache only just got to a manageable level.

I flew upwards into the branches of the tree. Panacea seemed to notice as the crystalline branches spread apart to let us through. They lead us to a place where many branches came together, giving it a wide platform.

I gently placed the Crystal Heart in the center of the platform. It immediately began to float in place as small crystal vines sprouted out of nowhere and began to surround the Heart in a large bubble around it. That would be well enough for now.

I turned and began flying the other direction, towards the place where some of the most powerful capes in the world were gathering. The roof of the PRT building.

* * *

The difference between the gathering of forces for this battle and every battle before it was massively different, and it showed. With only a few hours left before Behemoth was scheduled to arrive The Protectorate had time to gather everyone. Capes from every corner of the world where here. Dozens of capes that could possibly equal or even surpass Lung and Alexandria. Russians, Africans, Indians, Europeans, Asians, Australians, and on and on. They were all here. Several dozen Tinkers had disappeared downstairs and appeared to be comparing notes. The Triumvirate was talking to the powerhouses while everyone else mingled. Everyone except some strange woman in a suit standing far off to the side, silently watching the proceedings.

And it was at that point the thing of nightmares walked up to me.

"Hello there," It hissed. "This one is Supesu."

Holy rays of Celestia what the ever loving buck is this thing! Its limbs bent oddly. If it needed food to live it would have died long ago, and it's creepy, ever-present smile was terrifying. Supesu didn't have lips at all, just a wide smile that revealed every tooth in his skull. Combine that with its wide eyes that never seemed to blink and I was sufficiently creeped out.

"What is wrong, Horse God? Supesu means you no harm. Supesu had idea. Supesu seeks to help."

The creature, cape, thing, twisted its head around and moved into a crouching position in front of me.

"Ah, er, what, exactly, did you have in mind?" I was a little afraid to ask.

In response, Supesu opened his mouth and a long, pointed tongue rolled out, holding a stone which he deposited in his hand before returning his tongue to his mouth.

"Here Supesu has a supesu he has charged for a long time. Could affect whole city, maybe. Never wanted to use it. Wouldn't be any fun. But now, maybe it will be useful."

"What does it do?" I asked carefully. Supesu began to giggle.

"Nothing, yet. But something soon. Supesu thinks that this supesu could disperse energy attempting to come in, and make radiation none damaging inside. Maybe stop electricity and heat too, if Supesu can think of rule that do not cause more harm than good."

"Er, that sounds good," I said, more than a little uncomfortable. It didn't help that he was edging closer to me and Cheshire.

"Nova," someone suddenly said before Supesu could say something else. I looked and saw Legend waving over to me. Thankful for the excuse, I quickly shuffled away without saying another thing. Whoever or whatever Supesu was it freaked me out.

"Hey," Cheshire said, moving to slid of my back as I walked. "I'm going to go talk to some people while you deal with the big three over there."

"Alright," I responded awkwardly, not sure what to say in response to that. She nodded and hopped off, instantly disappearing into the crowd.

"We've decided on a strategy," Legend told me as I got close. I looked between him and Alexandria, as Eidolon began flying away. Getting a chance to talk with a member of the Triumvirate was pleasing to me, particularly after that unsettling encounter.

"Alright, what did you decide on?" I asked. I noticed I somewhat subconsciously straighten up and spread my wings a little.

"We've managed to evacuate a large part of the city," Alexandria stated seriously. "But it has still left a significant number of people in the shelters."

"Right," Legend agreed with a nod. "We have our best teleporters working on getting them away from here safely, but we're going to have to hold off the Endbringers until then. Almost half of the cities population is on the line here." Legend took a deep breath and glanced around. There were some people pretending not to be listening nearby, but nothing overt. After a moment, Legend continued.

"Our best chance at getting through this is to keep the three Endbringers from getting fully together. Were going split into three groups and hope it's enough to keep them out of the city.

"Eidolon is going to take the lead against the Leviathan, where we are going to put most of our Tinkers. With any luck, he'll be able to hurt the Endbringer enough that it'll leave and he can move into assist the other teams.

"Alexandria is going to be leading our forces against the Behemoth. We're putting our strongest Brutes and Blasters against him. We're expecting him to be the hardest to deal with in this fight, but a bulk of our muscle is going into preventing his advance for as long as possible.

"I will be taking everyone who can fly or otherwise help to attack Simurgh. We're going to do our level best to keep her out of the city to give Eidolon as much time as possible to defeat the Leviathan. I can't stress enough, with the amount of Tinkers we have in the city we can not let the Simurgh get close. Which is why I want you with us."

That bit shocked me, but it probably shouldn't have. But still, being asked by Legend himself to help him fight the Simurgh gave me just a little prideful flare. But that was overruled but the idea that I would be fighting the Simurgh while I was this low on energy. Though, it wasn't like I had too much of a choice. If the Simurgh get into the city with this many Tinkers around and two other Endbringers on either side of us... we won't last long.

"I'll do it, but I need to get something together," I told him.

"Be quick and get your affairs in order," Legend responded seriously. "We've got less than an hour before the Behemoth arrives."

* * *

A/N: In case it wasn't clear in the conversation, the idea is that if Behemoth gets into the city then it's all over. So they put a wall of Brutes and ranged fighters in front of him to slow his progress down as much as possible. They essentially do the same to the Simurgh as if she get in between things the resistance is going to fall to pieces. By putting Eidolon, all of the Tinkers, and any other miscellaneous capes of the Leviathan, they hope he can be beaten quickly and then move to help the other two teams.

Also, I don't believe I mentioned that I based Supesu's appearance on the image that pops up when you look up the Russian Sleep Experiment. Not a good thing.


	53. Chapter 53

I talked to my dad one last time to make sure we both knew where the other would be and what not. He and Imp were both on a rescue team for any injured. I didn't get a chance to talk with Imp because she was busy arguing with one of the Wards, Grue I think it was. I found Cheshire talking with one of Dragon's many suits, apparently discussing some observations her power had made. I gave Will a dozen shield gems and hoped he would be okay in our house, as he would probably be arrested if sent to a bunker. One of the more empty Endbringer bunkers had been turned into a medical station where bioTinkers and Panacea we now at. Supesu set off his… supesu I guess, reinforcing the Crystal Heart with his own barrier. I gathered what potions I was able to, stamina, magic, strength, healing, perception, and durability all disappeared into my saddlebags. Normally, we over-focused on the healing and magic potions as my magic and Cheshire's faux Brute powers didn't necessarily need the other ones, but that wasn't the case today.

And with all that done, I drank a magic increasing potion and I flew to the tallest building in Brockton Bay where all the other flyers were gathering as we waited for the arrival of Behemoth. Everyone was silent when I got there, and all there was to do was wait. Standing there, completely silent, I began noticing that all my friends felt very far away. Every last one at some other part of the city.

But, then I realized that wasn't completely true. Glory Girl was here, giving me a reassuring smile. And Purity, with a slightly different costume than from before standing far off to the side. And while she wasn't close enough to quite be a friend, Whiplash from Team Vigil was here too. A wide grin spread across her face.

Legend walked up to me and silently held out an armband. I saw he was wearing one too and grabbed it with my hoof. After examining it for a moment, I figured out how it was supposed to go on. I had to put it on tightly though otherwise, it would probably fall off my leg. Oddly enough, it seemed to already have my name entered into it.

I looked up at the Simurgh, still miles above the city, and watched her continued to float around in small circles. The massive wings of hers reflecting the thin beams of sunlight still poking over the horizon as night crept closer. It looked like it was going to be a full moon.

Then the ground began to rumble. A light shake that only picked up in intensity. Looking towards the mountains I saw the land begin to deform. Then the Simurgh stopped circling and the bulge of water in the ocean moved forward. It was finally here.

Legend and Purity raised their hands, preparing a light beam as others with similar powers began to do the same. Including Lady Photon and Laserdream. I took the hint and bought a concussive beam to the tip of my horn, ready to cast at any moment.

Then Behemoth broke through the surface and the world was bathed in fire.

Flames, a mirage of blue, white, and red slammed into the barrier with an almost audible sound as The Heart protected the city. The flames swept around the massive bubble, blocking the Simurgh from sight as a burning smell overtook the setting. From one end of the city to another all there was to see was flames as the Behemoth attempt to scorch the city from the Earth.

The rush of flames barely lasted thirty seconds before it began to clear up. I resisted the urge to looked in that direction in case the Simurgh moved a moment later. But before it cleared up completely a mass of water crashed into the barrier from the other side, once again covering our line of sight as the Levithan's built up wave attempted to crush the city. Something only The Crystal Heart and maybe Supesu's barrier spared it from.

When the water finally cleared and the Simurgh was visible again we saw something that definitely hadn't been there before. A massive clouds hanging over our heads. The Simurgh moved forward with a flick of her wings, the cloud shooting ahead of her and crashing into the barrier with a decisive thud before quickly spreading out as a massively thick fog.

Instinctively, I shot magic toward my wings and chugged a potion while doing so. I forced the ethereal wings to get larger than I've ever made them before and gave them strongest thrust I could muster.

Fresh air shot through the fog like a bullet, clearing an open hole the size of a basketball court and letting us see the Endbringer rapidly approaching. And then a rainbow of multicolored energy beams lanced out into the sky at the approaching creature. Following that, every last person on and around the roof shot forward as fast as we possibly could, with me following half a second later.

Taking into the air with dozens of capes around me felt incredible in the few seconds it lasted before capes like Legend began to rapidly outpace me. I was still pretty fast though, keeping up with Glory Girl as we approached.

I thought Legend and a handful of others getting there first would have given me the advantage of being able to look for an opening in the fighting. But no, as Ziz began to twist in the air to dodge one a beam of light she locked eyes with me. Then she righted herself and flew directly towards me, quickly closing a thirty-foot gap between us.

I flew higher to get out of her path just as she twisted in the air to avoid some Brute flyer attempting to tackle her. The tips of her wings flared out and caught a couple beams before they hit her body before suddenly changing direction in midair and following me.

Wait, following me? Oh-

I was forced to teleport before one of her wings nearly slammed right into me, but I wasted no time retaliating. I was just behind her and her back was turned to me. I pooled my magic in my horn and let out a concussive beam. Strangely, she made no attempt to dodge as the beam slammed into her with all the power I put behind it.

She reacted as if slapped just before Glory Girl suddenly flew by and grabbed onto one of her wings, snapping it backward for a moment before the Simurgh threw her off. She turned back towards me, her wing flaring outward spectacularly. She dodged the next few attacks the people shot at her as she continued forward. Then my legband began to speak.

 _Teller down CD-9, Phsafil down CD-9, Acoustic deceased CD-1, Cloister deceased CD-8, Strav deceased CD-9, Geomancer down CD-1, Rockalanch down CD-2…_

The names continued to pour in, one after another as the distant sounds of explosions and fighting went on. Comparatively, the Simurgh hadn't yet even hurt one of us as her attention seem too focused on me. For a moment I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not, but then quickly decided if that was how it was going to be then it was less time she was hurting others.

I grit my teeth and flew backward as I levitated another potion out of my bags to keep me going. I didn't want to take them all at once and get wasteful with my power, but it might get annoying if every time I had to perform a spell I needed to take a potion out.

The Simurgh chased after me, darting through dozens of capes that all attempted to strike her. Most missed, but not even she could dodge this many attacks coming from so many directions. For all others, she defended herself with her wings.

Suddenly, I stopped flying and brought up a spell I had learned when figuring out enchanting. Fire.

I blasted a large stream of it directly into her face as she closed in on me. She attempted to pull out of the way, but the flames scorched a trail across her chest and one of her wings. Not even half a second after that a double helix of light exploded past, striking the Endbringer right in her stomach, sending her twisting through the air from the force.

There it was a second time. She doesn't even come close to avoiding my attacks and then she gets hit by someone else. But why would she… unless-

I was cut off by that line of thought as the Simurgh barreled towards me again. This time, I flew towards her, blasting a concussive beam as I flew. She twisted out of the way, managing to get her main body out of the way. But my beam caught her in her wings and I quickly started to correct its aim. Instantly, everyone's attacks began landing on her, tearing out chunks of feathers and what might be considered flesh from her. I grinned and doubled down on the beam drilling her.

"Nova!" Someone shouted. I don't know who, but they saw a wing I hadn't. But they didn't call my name soon enough, because a moment later the wing slammed into my lower body.

I was launched through the air, spinning out of control. I flared out my wings as I attempted right myself. Throwing up a shield and grabbing another magic potion as I did so. I wasn't even close to running low yet, but I was putting a lot of power into every single spell.

The moment I managed to right myself, I realized my mistake. I had stayed still.

The Simurgh's human-ish hand suddenly appeared, slamming into the side of my shield so hard it shattered on impact and launching me back faster than I normally fly. But instead of flying through the air, I slammed right into her wings.

I saw her other wings coming around to either crush or trap me when Legend appeared in between us in a burst of light. Beams shot out of both hands and struck the Simurgh. It seemed to distract her enough for me to start moving away, but half a second after I start flying the other way, a massive wing came through and smashed into both me and Legend with the same force that shattered my shield. I didn't even have a moment to hear my legband call out my name before my vision faded out.

* * *

 _Oh no, no, no. It can't end there! The fun just started. Besides, we're cartoons! You might as well act like it._

* * *

I came back to my senses lying on top of a... Fog cloud?

Shakily, I climbed to my hooves, the fog bank beneath me yielding slightly like I was walking on memory foam. Since when could I walk on clouds? Then again, when was the last time I touch a cloud?

I shook my head, there would be a time to think about that and now wasn't it.

Looking up, I saw the sky alight with beams of all colours and powers. Brutes like Glory Girl attempted to get close desperately like they had managed just a minute ago. While she was dodging almost every attack, they seemed to slow her downward progress to a crawl. Which, in the end, was exactly what we needed to do.

I saw massive black stones rising through the air from the direction Behemoth had come from and started floating towards the fighting. The Simrigh's telekinesis, probably. At least I knew she wasn't able to pull anything from the city. But things would get a lot harder once she had dozens of rocks in the air with her.

I consider things for a moment. Every time one of my attacks hit her, other were able too. When I was in contact with her wing Legend was able to appear and attack her. Just like how Cheshire can't use her power on me, like how Ergo had trouble understanding my magic, like how Armsmaster couldn't get an energy reading on it initially, like how Ragnarok's true name didn't affect me like the others.

I play out of a different rule book, and every time I touch the Simurgh it makes her vulnerable.

That's why the Endbringers where here, I realized, I'm a threat to them. That's why the Simurgh is focusing on me, she's afraid of what I might do.

It was almost enough to make me laugh. Instead, with renewed energy, I took out my remaining three magic potions and drank them all down before looking up at the Endbringer as she viciously killed two flyers with one of her wings. I threw up a shield around me and started flying as hard as I could.

An air cone began to form around my bubble shield as I flew faster and faster upwards, all the while my legband stating people's names in my ear. I let the names become static white noise, focusing only on the target in front of me. I announced my presence with a concussive beam fired through the swarm of capes, marking one of the few and first times I cast two spells at once. It caught the Endbringer in her chest and made her pause for just a moment. The other capes cleared out of my way as I shot upwards directly at her, keeping the beam focused on her. I only cut the beam off a second before I and my shield slammed right into her body at full force, and I only continued to fly forward.


	54. Chapter 54

As soon as I crashed into her every attack began to land. I flew forward, pushing her upward and away from the city. I was vaguely aware of some attacks landing around me, biting at the edge of my shield. It wasn't helping.

I chanced a look up and was instantly met with the Simurgh's eyes bearing down on me. Her teeth were bared angrily, her lips pulled back unnaturally far. That was the last thing I saw before all of her wings converge on me at once and shattered my shield.

Right before the wings continued past and crushed me, a red tendril came out of nowhere and lashed her across the face with enough power to send her reeling backward. I immediately flew away and looked for the person who brought me the time.

With her legs turned into towering green tendrils, Whiplash flashed a grin at me as she stood taller than any building in the city. Her arms were just as long, except with a red colour to them as she attacked the Simurgh. I nodded to her once and turned back around to get back in on the action.

Ziz was hurting. We all saw it, the brief moments where every attack landed had taken a toll on her. Chunks of her strange flesh were missing, scorch marks lined her previously pure white wings, and now there was one long black mark across her face where Whiplash had struck her. By all accounts, we were winning.

But she wasn't stopping.

I flew around her at a much large distance than the other capes did, even though she was desperately attempting to pursue me. Periodically, I fired a small flame spell at her. It wouldn't hurt her, but it still served to make her momentarily blind and gave the others a chance to land a hit. That was the smart strategy, to break her down over a period of time that let me conserve my energy. Particularly as I already getting a headache after the gambit with my shield. I wouldn't survive a direct attack like that again.

I haven't seen Legend in a while, no idea why as I still saw his beams coming in from time to time. Striking the Simurgh with uncanny accuracy at some distance. It looked like he had caught onto my rhythm. And apparently, so had the others. Now, everyone was pausing and saving their attacks in time with my small flame attacks. It was working, every single time she took more damage, she got more hurt. We were winning. And we were winning hard.

Then the Simurgh stopped. She paused in mid-air and looked at me with her scorched face. Then she turned and rushed straight toward the other heroes.

I shot forward to chase after her, but she had caught them off guard. It didn't help that at that moment, she levitated blackened rocks right into the fray. People scrambled as the rampaging Simurgh lashed back and forth, wings catching more than a few as she went. Only my occasional flame spell gave people a chance to got out of her way quick enough. But it wasn't fast enough.

I flew closer and activated the flame spell in full. It wasn't as draining as the kinetic beam in exchange for not being that devastating. Especially not against the Simurgh. But I didn't have enough power to sustain it, even as I was flying in with it going only at half power I felt my head pain growing to migraine levels and myself getting magically exhausted. But if it gave more people a chance to get out of her way then it would have to do.

At that moment, the Simurgh turned in my direction and launched herself directly at me. I didn't have enough energy to do anything but attempt to fly away. But I knew I wouldn't be able to get up to speed nearly fast enough. I drew back my magic, lifted a little shielding stone out my bag, and hoped it would be enough.

Suddenly, four tendrils shot out and wrapped around the Simurghs wings and began to smoke. The Simurgh lashed outwardly, trying to pull herself free as the tendrils wrapped around her tighter. Whiplash's own hair turned into more tendrils before growing several dozen feet and grasping the Simurgh again. Two different beams from Legend came by and struck her face at that moment as well. They were buying me time.

As I turned around to fly away as hard as I could, Glory Girl caught my eye as she flew forward with her normal grin. Then one blackened boulder struck her once before one of the Simurgh's free wings whipped out and struck her, making her disappear from sight.

 _Friendship bond broken._ __

 _Unacceptable._ __

 _"...CD-5. Glory Girl deceased CD-2. Marchlancer down…"_

It was like something snapped and floodgates opened. Magic flooded through my veins with a power I only felt two times before. But more than that, I felt angry. Irrationally, probably. Unjustified? No.

I turned around and looked at the Simurgh as she threw off Whiplash and started to attack the other people in the air. I hadn't paid attention to how long we had been in the air, but it was long enough that only half of the original force was still here. They had fallen in between the moments the Simurgh and I were getting into it. I couldn't accept that. Too many. Too many now, too many from before, too many going forward. And now one of my friends. Not even one of my best friends, but a friend anyway. And if she killed one, she would kill the others.

The thought made the magic thunder through me even harder.

I reached out with my telekinesis and grabbed all of the Simurgh wings and forced them still, exuding more magic at once than I ever had before. She attempted to thrash and twist, but I wouldn't let her. I held her still as everyone still flying pegged her with attack after attack. But it was enough. I clenched my teeth and started to pull in opposite directions.

She opened her mouth and let out a very real and very audible scream as the first wing separated with a crack of her crystalline feathers and skin. Followed shortly by the others. One after another, I pulled her apart and didn't feel any less furious as I did so. Stubbornly, one wing was stronger than the others and refused to part from her body. But it didn't matter, she was done. I let her go and she immediately started to reel backward. She dripped a black ichor that I believed was supposed to be her blood and moved slowly away. It seemed she was trying to run now, but she had been crippled. And many people here weren't willing to let her leave that easily.

I shook my head and left her to them. I was still riding a power high and there were better places to direct my efforts.

I tossed all but one of the Simurgh's wings as far as I could, keeping the last one as a sort of weapon I might use. Looking at the other two Endbringers, I quickly considered my options. Lung and Behemoth appeared to be going at it to the west side of the city, completely leveling the mountains in the area as they traded blows. It seemed the Behemoth couldn't fight both his claws and his flames, let alone every other Brute capable of attacking him. That would be fine for now.

The Leviathan was doing much better. With most of his attackers being Tinkers of one sort or another and the Crystal Heart keeping his waves out of the city the Endbringer was standing his ground much easier than the others. He stayed waist deep in the water, going toe to toe with Eidolon while the Tinkers attempted to get a good shot in. They weren't doing so well.

I took a deep breath and zeroed in on the Leviathan and started to fly. In a second I was moving fast enough to create an after image that trailed behind me. And I pushed it harder. When an air cone formed around me and when the wind resistance got to be a little too much I made a bubble shield and pushed myself harder. And I kept pushing as the Leviathan came closer and closer. Time seemed to slow down for me, and I saw him raising a wave to bar my path. I swept the Simurgh's wing through it, effectively destroying it right before I passed the place where it had been.

I felt a loud explosion around me as I broke the sound barrier while barreling in the Leviathan's chest. I briefly saw a strange rainbow colour before the world became surrounded by water. For a minute all I could see was my shield, the water surrounding me, and a tiny patch of the Leviathan's skin. That changed when a reptilian tail came around and struck my shield, sending me flying like I was trapped inside of a ping-pong ball.

I quickly broke the shield and flew upward, turning around to find the Leviathan looming over me. I didn't hesitate a moment before slapping it with the Simurgh's wing. I noticed Eidolon coming in with his hand held in front of him before a massive beam larger a than I was shot out of his hand and consumed the Endbringers face.

Tinkers with jetpacks and antigravity tech came flying in, carrying their own weapons and the weapons of other Tinkers. Glowing beams and strange projectiles filled the air, striking Leviathan with growing intensity. Again and again, I brought the Simurgh's wing across the Endbringer. Each time it left a large gash in its skin which the other capes were more than happy to attack with a passion. But it was slow going. And while I still felt power flooding through me I knew it couldn't last. But I was still angry and frustrated, I had to make it enough. It had to end this.

It was at that moment a golden beam of light shot out of the sky and struck the Leviathan square in the chest, throwing him backward.

Scion was finally here.

I threw the full force of my power behind my attacks, slamming the Simurgh's wing down on the Leviathan as hard as I could as he attempted to avoid Scion's next attack. I briefly glanced up and saw Scion floating high above the fight, firing his beams between Behemoth and Leviathan each. I shook my head and focused.

Shooting forward again, the Endbringer brought his arms in front of his face and threw a wave in front of me. I teleported past it and unleashed the hardest kinetic beam I could muster, striking him where his arms were crossed at. At that moment, one of Scion's beam hit him at the same time and the same place. There was a brief golden and purple glow, and then the Leviathan exploded and I went flying.

I was thrown into the air, spinning uncontrollably, when I decided to teleport upwards. By whatever mechanisms of the power, I stopped spinning and just started falling. Now that I wasn't spiraling through the air I managed to right myself and took in my surroundings.

Looking back, I saw I had been thrown almost all the way back to the city. The waves were dying down now, a hint of what might have happened.

Flying back towards the where the fight had been, I saw Eidolon approaching me as Tinkers flew back towards the city. If I hadn't suspected it before, I knew now. Even Scion was turning towards the Behemoth.

"The Leviathan lost an arm," Eidolon told me as he got close. "Sustain more damage than ever before in the process. He face and body had been worn down more than we've been able to before."

"Good," I said, looking back towards the city determinedly. "That just leaves one left."

"Right," Eidolon said with a nod, floating upward. I took a deep breath and drew up what power I had. There was still a lot more than I had at the start.

The image of Glory Girl went through my mind again. It wasn't dramatic, it wasn't horrifying. Just one moment she was flying forward, the next moment she wasn't. Gone, her death announced on an armband. Panacea's sister, a sort of friend of mine, an ally too. In a blink of an eye she was gone. And my band continued to rattle off names one after the other.

I felt the power surge through me again. Not as strong or as forceful as it was before, but it was there. It would have to be enough.

I teleport straight to the other side of the city and was might with a completely barren blast zone. Even the Crystal Heart hadn't been able to keep it out of the city entirely. A good portion of the housing area in the part of the city was on fire and they struggled to keep Behemoth and Lung out of the barrier.

What I saw looking like something out of a high budget sci-fi film from Earth Aleph. Lung was radiating fire, Behemoth and shooting lighting and all number of energies. Alexandria was flying all over the place in a blink of an eye. All the Brutes, Blasters, and all the flyer coming over from the Simurgh's fight were filling the air with so many bright lights and attacks that the light pollution made it nearly impossible to see. Combine that with the blasting music and light show from Showman somewhere around the fighting area and it was liable to give me a seizure.

But I had to do something. I briefly lamented dropping the Simurgh's wing before shooting upward. It would be near impossible to approach from the ground, so I'll just have to drop in from above.

It was then I was able to see Scion flying forward, shooting towards the Behemoth as fast as I typically flew. I probably only just beat him here with the teleport. I saw people preemptively parting for him to get in. And then I had an idea.

I changed my path and start picking up speed. I curved upward, matching Scion's path almost perfectly as we both shot forward towards the Endbringer. Maybe in any other circumstances, I might have been a little more concerned getting this close to Scion. But even as I got within wing's reach of him neither of us were looking at the other. We were only several dozen feet away from Behemoth when everyone had finally moved out of the way. Scion and I shot our respective beams at the same time, striking the Behemoth directly in the face. Our beams mixed a moment and things seemed to go still. Then they violently exploded much the same way they went off against the Leviathan. My world turned white and I was aware I was flying through the air for a few moments before I hit something and I blacked out.

***

When I came to I was on top of the Crystal Tree, the leaves gently holding me in the air. I couldn't have been out for long as I could make out a horribly disfigured Behemoth burrowing its way into the ground as an ever-shrinking Lung attempted to beat it to death.

I got to my hooves and looked around. On the far outskirts of the city, I saw the body of the Simurgh laying still on the scorched earth surrounding the city. We killed her. We managed to kill the Simurgh. I suppose I could take solace in that, maybe. I hope.

It was about then I noticed Scion was floating over me, looking down with an unreadable expression. I stood frozen as he stared at me, the golden man himself looking… confused?

He opened his mouth and I felt my eyes go wide.

"You…" he said slowly. "Are not…" His mouth slammed shut and his expression changed to something unreadable and not really human. He turned around and flew away without another word as fast as he could, leaving me behind to be completely confused.


	55. Chapter 55: Power Shift Interlude

Scribe watched carefully as Panacea went from person to person, getting them into stable condition as fast as she could before moving on to the next person. Not even bothering to ask them permission now.

He looked down at the button in his hand. He knew what he was supposed to be doing, but he had to question it. Ever since he began working with Coil it felt more like he was working as a subordinate. He already had to do that enough with Whirlygig, he didn't appreciate doing it with someone actually competent.

I looked back up and saw Panacea was approaching the villains he was supposed to be watching. Phlegm, fresh out of Protectorate custody, was standing silently in the corner. He designed the pills and was here as a fail-safe in case the plan went wrong. He had been a good tool, Scribe had picked him well, but this was severely outside their normal operations. However, everything single time he used his power on Coil it always told him the same thing. Honest, trustworthy, good intentioned. It was strange, for a villain, but his power had never led him astray with anyone else. And they were getting good money for this.

Scribe took in a deep breath and let out a sigh before shaking his head. He watched as Panacea made her way towards the first target. One person after another, she edged closer and closer. Finally, she got to his bed. Scribe moved his finger over the button.

As soon as she touched the villain's open skin he pressed down. He died instantly as the Tinker pill went off. And if Phlegm was to be believed, destroying any trace of itself in the process. Panacea made a face and a dozen volunteer nurses rushed to see what was going on as the monitors started going off. Panacea visibly struggled for a moment, but ultimately had to let them deal with the dead man.

She moved on to the next few people, some heroes placed in between that last villain and the next one. But as soon as she touched the next villain down the line Scribe touched the button again. Just as he was told. The villain died and the exact same thing happened, only now she was beginning to panic as she couldn't bring them back.

When she eventually moved on to the next few people she was shadowed by a PRT agent.

It took longer for her to get to the last villain they had set up. Going over plenty of heroes and independents that had turned up. But as soon as she reached forward and touch the villain, Scribe pressed the button one final time. The sound of foam being launched from the PRT officer's tank filled the room and Panacea quickly became a spectacle for everyone to see. Scribe turned and walked out while everyone was distracted.

* * *

"Cheshire," Thomas Calvert stated, coming into the room with several dozen PRT agents behind him. Cheshire looked up from the pile of assorted gems she was looking through and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?" She asked, raising a hand to her head to try to relieve the pressure of a headache. He resisted the urge to smile at that.

"Security footage shows you, with the assistance of Nova, illegally hacking into Cornucopia's computers. Data logs recovered shows proves that you copied and stole corporate secrets with millions of dollars."

"You're going to try and arrest me?" Cheshire asked, disbelievingly. "During an Endbringer truce? You're out of your mind."

"The record will show we arrested you after your teammate murdered three villains during the truce, leading to us uncovering that in the subsequent investigation."

"The record? That's bull and you know it." Cheshire paused and frowned, her headache building. "No… you and… You're the one that killed Aegis aren't you?"

Calvert turned his head and nodded to the officers before turning on his heel to walk out. The sound of foam filled the room behind him as he left.

Lung sat uneasy as Supesu skittered into the room with the unnatural way his body bent and moved. The creature crawled over to the table and deposited a pile of gems on the table.

"Nova's house is very unclean?" Supesu said with a happy nod. "So many gems everywhere, so many drawings. Supesu found a great many things he did."

"Any problems?" Lung asked with a growl, moving to look over the gems himself.

"Hmmm, just one," Supesu said in a sickly sweet raspy tone. Lung looked at him critically. "A certain man, hiding in the basement," Supesu clarified. "A man of tricks, a 'Max Clay' as you know him."

"The terrorist?" Lung asked seriously, lowering the gem he was examining. "What was he doing in Nova's basement."

"Supesu thinks they may have made nice, helped each other to help the other. Became friends."

"That is…" Lung shook his head. "What did you do to him?"

Supesu giggled and twisted his head completely around, his smile seeming to widen.

"Supesu want to put him in a supesu, Supesu did. But before Supesu did he asked if he wanted to see a magic trick. Of course, Supesu wanted to see a magic trick. So Max showed Supesu some card tricks. They were very fun. Then he held up a sheet and made himself disappear. Very clever. Much like."

"So he is gone." Lung stated. Supesu nodded happily. Lung let out a frustrated sigh, that was going to be a problem.

"Oh, and my barrier worked," Supesu said nonchalantly. Lung immediately snapped to attention.

"It did?" He asked. Supesu nodded happily and held up a bright red ruby.

"Yes, all the energy hitting the supesu became the energy in the gem, charging it more and more with every strike. Heat and radiation, all now more of the energy the original in the ruby." Supesu let out a belt of hissing laughter that sounded more like an old person going into a coughing fit.

Carefully, Lung took the ruby out of Supesu's outstretched palm. It was glowing incredibly brightly, seemingly filled with the same strange energy Nova emitted. He didn't quite know what could be done with it, but it very well might change things considerably. He might have to get a Thinker to help with.

At the very least, if played right it would be another reason to keep Nova off their back.

* * *

"Is he going to be alright?" Imp asked as she laid back lazily in the seat she was given. The nurse hung a new IV bag on the rack, and double checked the monitor reading Desh's condition.

"Probably," she said. "He got badly burned, but he's in stable condition now. Panacea will be by eventually and fix him right up. That is if the head nurse doesn't show up and wake him up with her nagging." The nurse chuckled to herself.

"Alrighty then," Imp said boredly. She glanced back at Desh. One side of his body had been badly charred, ruining his costume in the process. But seeing how his identity was already known, they didn't both giving him a new mask or anything. Of course, with all the bandages it probably wouldn't matter all that much.

At that moment, the curtains pulled back and revealed Grue standing behind it, Armsmaster and several PRT officers with him. Imp immediately got to her feet.

"Bro, what the hell?" Imp demanded.

"Ai- Imp," Grue corrected himself. "Look, I didn't want to do this but-"

"But what? You just really wanted to be an asshole?" Imp asked sternly, having more than a little suspicion where this was going.

Grue sighed and shook his head. "You can't be going out on your own."

"I wasn't on my own!" Imp protested. "I was with Nova. You know? Big unicorn pegasus that ripped the goddamned Simurgh in half!"

"Please, Imp, just make this easy for us," Grue asked desperately. Imp laughed at him.

"Heh, screw that!" She let her power flow over her and watched as the others looked confused. She grinned and moved to dart past them when she felt something prick her in the side and suddenly her whole body went stiff.

'The Tinker,' she realized as she fell. Then everything went black.

* * *

Shadow Stalker watched as Nova descended from the Crystal Tree, moving closer and closer to the Endbringer bunker they had been using as a medical station. She was toying with a combat knife she had managed to hold on to. It had come in handy during the fight. For various reasons.

She rose to her feet as soon as Nova got close, waving her down from the roof of the tall building just off to the side of the entrance of the Endbringer bunker. She saw Nova hesitate, then change course for her. She watched smugly as she landed carefully on the roof, her face clearly showing just how suspicious she was.

"You're friends aren't in there," Shadow Stalker said, crossing her arms as she did so.

"What do you mean?" Nova asked.

"I mean Cheshire and Panacea just got arrested by the PRT."

"They what?" Nova demanded, flaring her wings out and stamping her front hoof against the roof. It didn't even seem like she realized she did it. She wasn't happy.

"Apparently Panacea killed a few people," Shadow Stalker said as nonchalantly as she could manage. There was something about stand next to the alicorn that ripped the Simurgh to pieces that were unsettling.

"They think that learning her father and sister died sent her into a rage of sorts, made her kill three villains during the truce. You know, a Birdcage worthy offense."

"She wouldn't," Nova insisted. Shadow Stalker shrugged.

"Probably not, but they don't seem to agree."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Shadow Stalker smirked behind her mask. "Isn't obvious? I want to help."

"You?" Nova asked dryly. "Why?"

"Isn't it obvious," Shadow Stalker asked, flipping the knife over in her hand. "The PRT has done nothing but try to screw you over, manipulate you, and fail to do its job. I don't want to work with them any more than you do. And besides," she sheathed the knife and grinned. "It would be the 'kind' thing to do."

She watched Nova's eyes narrow as she considered her critically. But she was fairly confident she already knew what Nova was going to choose. She likes having friends after all, even when it puts her in significant danger. Anyone paying close attention will have noticed it by now, all she had to do was leverage it correctly.

And it never hurts to be on the nice side of the angry alicorn.


	56. Chapter 56

I'm done. Absolutely done with the PRT.

They couldn't protect Rune, they threaten me, the arrest my friends, and someone raided my house. I was completely done.

They were waiting for me as I landed on the street in front of the PRT headquarters. And by 'they', I mean Alexandria herself was patiently waiting for my arrival.

"Let them go," I told her. She shook her head.

"It doesn't work like that Nova. We know they have-"

"Well, I gave you a chance," I stated before teleporting into the building.

I was in the cell area I had only visited when I had come to seen Rune all that time ago. The reminder annoyed me. I began looking around. I saw a lot of people, previous Sentient members I guessed. But not Cheshire or Panacea.

I started walking sternly, keeping up a brisk pace. PRT officers started storming through the doors as an alarm went off. Foam was flying towards me a moment later, which I caught with my magic and threw it back at them. Now sufficiently trapped in their own attack, I strode past them without giving them a second look.

Leaving the main prison area I realized I wasn't going to find them here. I teleported to the elevator only to find it filled with more officers. Picking them off the ground and holding them still, I waited for it to come to a stop on the floor they had selected then proceed to throw them out. Hitting a surprised Armsmaster in the process. Before he could really react, I grabbed the entire elevator in my magic and forced it downward, breaking many of the delicate mechanisms in the process.

I found my way to several prison cells meant for capes and started walking downward. Occasionally PRT officers or weird electrical devices got in my way. They weren't a real issue.

Eventually, I found Cheshire in a cell behind a solid Tinker door. Much the same as I did with the elevator, I ripped it open and found her inside, still in costume and covered in left over flakes of containment foam. They hadn't had her very long.

"Where's Panacea?" I asked immediately.

"Protectorate headquarters," Cheshire answered instantly, climbing onto my back as she did so. "But Imp is in the cell to the left here." Without hesitation, I broke down the wall with a kinetic beam. Looking inside, I saw Imp unconscious on the shoddy mattress they provided. Levitating her up and floating her onto my back, I heard Cheshire say, "I got her, were good to go." I nodded and teleported away.

Alexandria, Legend, and Eidolon were waiting for me as I arrived at the oil rig and they each attacked simultaneously. I was unimpressed.

Grabbing Alexandria out of the air, I flung her at Eidolon who failed to move out of the way in time. I didn't even look at Legend as I blocked his beams with a shield. I glanced down at the Protectorate base below, seemingly unphased by the Leviathan's waves. With that single look, I teleported to the inside of their force fields.

I got my first glimpse of what the Endbringers likely took from them as the only people from this city I saw was Dauntless and Miss Militia. There were few others here that I only half recognized, like Chevalier, but they were mostly unknown to me. I decided not to bother with them.

I teleported several more times, one after another in a random path as I got closer and closer to the building itself. Tinker weapons on the outside of the building were firing on me as the different capes attempted to attack me. But I got a glimpse through a window and like that, I was inside.

Moving through the base itself was slower going. I was saved by the fact its layout was very similar to the PRT headquarters. I had just found their own elevator when Eidolon teleported into the room in front of me and hesitated. I narrowed my eyes at him and we stare at each other for a moment. Then I fired a kinetic beam into his face.

His own green bubbled shield appeared as the beam struck him, but I just used the distraction to discreetly press the elevator button behind him. Immediately the doors opened and I teleported inside before he realized what I was doing.

"Go up three floors," Cheshire told me. She was hanging on to me rather tightly. Probably because of the breakneck speed at which I was teleporting, but I could be wrong. I nodded to her and forced the elevator upwards.

This time when Eidolon appeared I attempted to engulf him in flames. Once again, he simply blocked it, allowing me to teleport away again.

"He doesn't know what he needs," I heard Cheshire murmur. Works for me.

Several more times Eidolon appear in my path, each time with the same outcome. Once he attempted to strike me with lighting, but one of the protection stones I had been carrying was enough to protect me from it.

I found Panacea in an airtight cell with her hands bound in a straight jacket. The very sight if it infuriated me.

"Nova," Panacea said the moment she saw me, attempting to rise to her feet. "I didn't do what they said, you haven't to-"

"I know," I said, cutting her off before ripping the door off the hinges. She stared at me wide-eyed as I undid the straps on her jacket.

"What are you doing?" She asked me incredulously.

"Getting you out of here," I stated sourly. She seemed to get the message at that moment.

"Nova," Alexandria called out. I turned and look directly at her with the harshest stare I could pull. She was floating tensely at one end of the hallway, ready to move. "Stop what you're doing," she demanded. "Give us back those three and you still might walk out of here. It doesn't have to be this way."

"I don't think you understand," I said, picking her up in my magic. I felt her attempt to flinch. I didn't let her. "I'm am sick and tired of people attempting to control me, to undercut me, to hurt my friends. And most of all, I'm sick of it being done by people who suck at their jobs!" I chose that moment to slam her into the wall behind her, causing her to shoot through it like it was made of paper. Half a second later, Eidolon appeared again. This time he raised his hand and emitted a purple glow. But whatever it was meant to do, I wouldn't know, as I teleported a second before he activated it.

I had only one more stop to make before heading back, by far the easiest one. I teleported to the Endbringer bunker, flew in and found my father. Looking at him, I felt my anger flare again. Not at anyone in particular, just in general.

I grabbed a healing potion from my bags and stuck it in his mouth before teleporting away one more time.

* * *

Lisa came up to me as I watched the moon move through the sky from one of the thicker branches of the Crystal Tree. She was freshly showered and in civilian clothing. She handed me a magic potion she must have just cooked up, which I appreciated as it soothed a headache I had been dealing with for the last couple hours.

The city had been silent. They hadn't even started bringing people back yet. They were confused. While we had lost four times as many capes as normal, but we had ten times as many capes present for the fight. So, technically it was a record low of capes dead per cape present. On top of that only a few dozen citizens had been killed and about a hundred injured. As far as damage went, only the Behemoth managed to actually harm the city. And most of it was a fire that spread by itself. Both Leviathan and the Behemoth had been horribly injured in amounts never before seen, not to mention the death of the Simurgh. By all accounts we hadn't just fended off all three Endbringers, we utterly destroyed them.

But all that left a bitter taste in everyone's mouth as news of what happened slowly spread, soon become a tense air of unease all around the city. I was sure there were thousands of different versions by now, all of them equally untrue. But people were waiting to see what was going to happen. Not even the heroes have been patrolling.

"So what happens now?" Lisa asked, sitting down next to me.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm a villain now," I said with a dry laugh. "Funny, I'm pretty sure Will warned me this was going to happen. He had more foresight than the PRT seemed to have. Speaking of which, any sign of him at all?"

"Nope," Lisa said with a shake of her head. "He's out there somewhere, but until we get a chance to go and find him I have no idea."

I sighed. Well, at least he wasn't dead. Before it all went down, I spent some time going through the list of the dead. An overwhelming number were from out of town, but there was a lot from around here too. Glory Girl, Flashbang, Shielder, Kaiser, Crusader, Night, Cricket, some independents, Kid Win, Triumph, Velocity, Browbeat, and Uber. It was a massive vacuum of power on all sides in the city. The Empire, in particular, seemed doomed to collapse, leaving the ABB and the Merchants to fill in the gaps. Not exactly an aspiring future.

"How is Amy?" I asked after a time.

"Shes…" Lisa paused and considered it. "Trying to focus on other things. Like making more rooms inside the Crystal Tree. Apparently, it's not the first time she experimented with making a tree house like this."

"And my dad?"

"Recovering. Amy put him back together good as new, but he is still processing the information."

"What about Shadow Stalker?" I was almost afraid to ask.

"Keeping to herself, surprisingly. It seems like she knows she isn't exactly in welcome company at a time, where it would probably end badly if she bothered anyone. So Amy gave her a room and shes been there ever since."

I sighed, that was something at least.

"Hey," Lisa said, nudging me lightly. "I just thought you'd want to know that whatever happens, whatever you decide going forward, all of us are a team. We'll help you."

"Are we though?" I asked. "It doesn't really seem like we're a team at all. In fact, almost every person here is only here because they were running from something. You ran from Coil, Amy ran from her family, Imp is running from authority. Will was running from… everyone. And now there is Shadow Stalker, who is only here because she hates the PRT as much as I do. We're less like a team and a collection of problem children."

"Will isn't a child."

"He might as well be."

"... That's fair."

Lisa paused a moment and considered things. After about a minute she said,

"No, I think we're a team. We're friends after all. If I really wanted to leave I could have a long time ago. Will honestly thinks working with you is his best chance to be the good man he wants to be. You went out of your way to save Aisha and she won't forget that. And with only Brandish left, Amy doesn't have much of a family to go back to even if she could. You've given us all a reason to stick together."

"You, Aisha, Will, Amy, and now Shadow Stalker," I said, turning it over in my head. "A corporate thief, a runaway child, a terrorist leader, and a convicted felon. This doesn't make me feel any better."

"Oh lighten up," Lisa said with a roll of her eyes, nudging me playfully. "Don't act like we haven't at least made your life interesting."

"I guess so," I said, nodding. "But there is one more thing bothering me."

"And what's that?"

"You lied to me. Multiple times if I remember right, but mostly about Biohazard. Even when you knew, you wouldn't tell me. Why?"

Lisa took a deep breath and sighed. "I really did think I was doing you a favour, helping you come to a decision more peacefully. But we saw how that played out."

"Yeah, we did," I added bitterly. Lisa sighed again and shook her head. She seemed to consider something for a second, then straightened up and raised a hand.

"Well, not again," she declared. "From here on out, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Crazed Frankenstein creations and all."

I couldn't help but manage a weak smile. "I guess that'll do."

"Good," Lisa said, standing up. "Then tomorrow we're going to need to find Will."

"Why?" I asked curiously.

"Because whatever you decide to do, you're probably going to need to make a speech. And you just can't do that without Will."


	57. Chapter 57

They started letting people into the city slowly, carefully watching our tree as they did so. Alexandria flew near our tree once but quickly left when Amy had the branches of the tree move back to reveal me standing just behind them. The message was clear. Don't come close, don't bother us, don't ask us anything.

As people came into the city they were unsurprisingly surprised to find a massive crystal tree had its roots all over the place. To Amy's credit, most of them were underground and under the streets, but quite a few had also broken through the surface and into buildings. Nothing that would make someone lose their home, but they might have to deal with a tree root going through their kitchen window now.

Speaking of the tree, I was incredibly impressed with what Panacea managed to do with it. Near the base of the massive tree was an enormous door that at the very least needed Lisa's pseudo Brute strength to open. Plus a secret door for Aisha and Dad for whenever they wanted to come and go without getting someone to open the door.

That front door opened up into a hallway that led to the main area, essentially a giant hollow cylinder with a ramp that spiraled its way upward until it reached the top of the tree. She put rooms all along that ramp, including bedrooms, bathrooms, and empty rooms for whatever else. I wasn't even going to ask how she got the bathrooms there.

It was still relatively early in the morning, meaning most people were still asleep as I descended through the tree house. I paused briefly outside Amy's room and briefly consider it. Well, I couldn't see any reason not to as I knew she was awake.

I knocked on her down lightly with a hoof and the door opened itself half a second later. I gave it something of a strange look before walking inside.

Amy's room was pretty small compared to the others. But what space there was to be had was mostly taken up by a large chair sitting in the centre of the floor. The chair was tilted back so Amy could lay in it as easily as she could sit in it. Currently, she was laying back it, staring at the ceiling blankly, her eyes glazed over.

"Amy?" I asked. No response. "Amy you there?" I prodded her with a hoof this time, causing her to blink. It took her a moment to realize what was going on before she rose out of her chair and rubbed her eyes.

"Everything okay?" I asked.

"Its fine, its fine," she murmured, shaking her head clear as she did so. "It's just, the tree goes over the whole city. That's a lot of information for me to sort through enough when you don't include The Heart."

"What is going on with The Heart?" I asked curiously. Amy pressed a hand to her face and shook her head again.

"I wish I knew. When things were just magic circuits I didn't really understand how they worked, but I recognized what they were and moved them around accordingly. But this tree is a magic circuit, probably more magic than tree. And it's doing… something with The Heart. It feels like wavelengths are bouncing between them in some strange way is it's… really, really confusing."

"You're feeling wavelengths?" That didn't really fit with anything I knew about her power.

"I don't… know? There isn't a line anymore between what is biology and what is this weird metaphysical magic. My own power has been going back and forth on what I can and can't manipulate because even it doesn't know what the heck is happening anymore. Every time I reach into the tree I feel like I'm controlling more of its magic instead of its biology. And when I look towards the Crystal Heart I can feel it emit a pulse, which the tree sends back slightly differently. It's like… I don't know, learning from each other."

"Can we still remove it?" I asked. Amy shrugged.

"Yes, I only had the tree encase The Heart so no one tried to mess with it. They're both still completely independent of each other, as far as I could tell."

"Well, that's good," I said with a nod. After a minute of silence, I said, "I'm going to be heading out soon. You want to come with us?" I saw her considering it for a few moments, tossing it over in her mind. A dark look passed over her face and she flinched inwardly, a movement small enough someone else might have missed it. After a minute, she shook her head and sighed.

"No, I really need to do more work on the tree. I've almost got several rooms ready to grow the plants you'll need for potions and stuff. Not to mention, the way the roots are spread out across the city gave me an idea."

"What's that?"

"A network of sensitive roots so I can see what is going on everywhere. It could be an amazing early alert system for us. Or depending on where, I could just trap criminals and lesser villains in the roots."

"I could see how that could be useful," I said with a nod. "I guess I'll leave you to it then." Amy nodded absent and immediately laid back in her chair again, her eyes glazing over a moment later. I turned to leave when something caught my eye.

It was her Flower Knight armour, but different. Instead of the wooden armour with decorative flowers, this was made of the crystal material of the tree. And on top of that, the design seemed more streamlined, and a little more feminine than the original had been despite the flowers it had.

Maybe she would be coming out with us eventually. I smiled.

As I left the room I decided to head out by myself and go over the city. By now I would expect the villains would be out in full doing what they do. Then again, I guess I was a villain now. The concept felt strange to me.

Looking around again to make sure no one had woken up while Amy and I had talked before taking a breath and teleporting.

The moment I was outside I flared out my wings and started gliding forward aimlessly, just taking in the city around me. The streets were busy, filled with people getting back to their houses and trying to get into shops that weren't open. I ignored them for the most part, only intervening when it looked like someone might try and force their way in. But even then all I really had to do was pull them away from the door or window and they would get the message and leave. I couldn't recall the last time it had ever been this easy.

I was distracted when I saw a massive green tentacle shot up in the air and waved at me before disappearing down to where it came from. Whiplash.

Curiously, I flew in that direction and saw all of Team Vigil stand on an empty street in the burnt out housing area from the Endbringer fight. I glanced back at the Crystal Tree, I had drifted further than I had wanted to. I definitely hadn't intended to go this close to the edge of the city.

Flying downward to see what they wanted, I noticed all of them had a motorcycle that matched their general colour scheme. Black for Quantumlock, pink for Showman, red and green for Whiplash, and blue for Vibrasonic. They didn't seem tense at all.

"Nova," Showman said, strangely serious. "Glad I caught you."

"Showman," I answered oddly. "You're not… explosively overdramatic."

"There is a time and place for it," he sighed. "And frankly, the act is really tiring after doing it for so long."

"Oh," I said, a little stunned. "So what's this about?" I looked between the other three. They didn't seem to care all that much for what was going on.

"You are, more or less." He shrugged. "According to the PRT, you broke into their headquarters and retrieved three villains before escaping."

"Those were my friends," I stated testly. He shrugged.

"Maybe, but the PRT doesn't care all that much. They've been preaching up and down about the legality of what you've done and what not. The usual bull."

"So they've made me a villain," I finished. Surprisingly, it was Whiplash who spoke up, marking the first time she had actually said something around me.

"Those bureaucratic morons would rather kill the entire Triumvirate before doing that." She moved away from her motorcycle with a sweep of her hands. "They've done everything but call you a villain. They called all your friends villains, they've called your tree unnerving, and they've called you incredibly powerful. Anything but outright stating you're a villain. Because honestly, if they did-"

"Hentia," Quantumlock interrupted boredly. "You're rambling. Again."

She blew a raspberry and him and said, "You're no fun."

Showman shook his head and sighed. "Well, that aside, she is right. They don't want to call a villain because, well, you hit one Endbringer with another Endbringer, among other things. That, and they're pretty sure there isn't going to be enough people wanting to fight you to for them to try and arrest you, which they would have to at least try if you were technically a villain."

"So what does that have to do you with guys," I asked, pointing a hoof at them. "And why did you call me here."

"Because whether or not you're a villain, you're not a hero. And that puts a lot of people on edge because before they could expect you to play ball with some of the rules. Now it's up in the air. Which is where we come in."

"What do you mean?" I asked suspiciously, glancing around.

"Instead of devolving into a gang war over the new territory that's opened with the Empire's collapse, the villains, vigilantes, and a few select independents pretending to be heroes are going to have a meeting." Showman explained. "We'll talk territory, rules going forward, the future basically. And as one of the few people you won't melt the face off of, we've been selected to invite you."

"So you want me to walk into a den of super villains and make deals with them?" I asked dryly, thoroughly disinterested in this plan.

Showman sighed. "I thought you might feel that way. But thankfully, I think I can convince you." He turned and looked at Vibrasonic and asked, "You're sure there is no one around here?" She nodded once. Showman nodded back and turned to look at me again. He raised a hand to his mask and slowly took it off.

I didn't recognize him for a minute, throwing me off that much more when I did.

"Greg?" I choked.


	58. Chapter 58: Greg pt1

The restaurant laid strewn across the ground in a thousand pieces. It wasn't the only building to get hit by the fight, but it was one of the few that had no hope of being rebuilt because of just how thorough the destruction of it was.

It had taken a month for Greg to finally get that job. Being so young, having no experience, and just living in Brockton Bay had made it a nightmare for Greg to get the dishwashing job there. But after enduring scathing comments from his father, he got the job.

Only for the building to get destroyed a week later.

He stood in shock, staring at the wreckage silently as he thought about what he was going to do. He didn't have any experience working anywhere else, which led to him having difficulty in finding a job in the first place. His time at the now ruined restaurant was not even worth mentioning. It would be another few months before he could get another job. And who is to say that won't get destroyed too?

Sometimes Greg thought he just had the worst luck.

"Hey," A gruff voice behind him suddenly said. Greg turned to see a man grinning at him smugly. Instinctively, Greg looked to see if he was a gang member. He didn't see the signs of Empire and the man wasn't mugging him yet so he probably wasn't a Merchant.

"Darn shame what happened to your place there," the guy said. He had a Boston accent with a touch of Irish. His easy grin that fit with the way he was standing, hands stuffed in the pockets of a partially unzipped leather jacket with a dark grey hood attached to the collar. He had dark green eyes and loose curly hair from his Irish American descent.

"Name's Stan, by the way." he held out his hand and Greg took it tentatively. Stan's smile widened.

"What do you want?" Greg asked.

"Why, to help another guy out of course," Stan answered easily. "Ya see, I'm with a group that happens to be sympathetic to those who lose their jobs and homes because of reckless cape fights."

Greg furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't understand."

"I don't blame ya kid," Stan said. Greg felt a pang of annoyance at being called a kid despite only being a few years younger than Stan seemed. Maybe in his earily twenties if you really stretched it. "But hey, capes wrecked your place of business and now you gonna need a job. That's where I come in.

"Ya see, we are in need of young, able-bodied workers to help us out. Nothing illegal," Stan said, holding his arms up in defense when Greg shot him a look. "If you got a license we'll have you drive'n supplies around town. If not, we'll have you load up the trucks. Like I said, ya won't be doin' nothin' illegal. But you'll get paid well."

"This sounds like a gang," Greg said slowly.

"Kid, we're so much more than a gang. Besides, easy pay, legal work, what's more to want?" Stan paused a moment and considered him. "That is unless, you want to get back into da job market?"

Greg swallowed and turned his head to look back at the crushed restaurant. He considered the offer in his head. After several minutes of silence, Greg looked back at Stan and said,

"I'll do it," Greg said with a nod. Stan's grin spread wide.

"That's good ta hear!" Stand slapped his hand into Greg's cheerfully.

"Um, do I have to sign anything or…" Greg trailed off awkwardly. Stan shook his head with a laugh.

"Oh no, nothin' like that. Paper trails make thing far too easy for a Thinker to figure out what's really going on. Everythin's done by word of mouth. You'll learn how it goes- um, what was your name kid?"

"Greg," he responded automatically. "Greg Veder."

"Ah, glad ta have ya Greg. Welcome to The Workers."

* * *

Months of lifting heavy boxes full of Kindle Gas and Brute Nets had done Greg good. He lost the roundness that had been the cause of many insults in school. He built up plenty of leg and arm muscles from all the lifting he had done. He cleaned up rather well, surprisingly. Stan convinced him to get rid of his terrible bowl cut about two weeks in. He shaved the sides and grew the top long, combing it over to the right. After a few days of grumbling, he eventually agreed the look suited him in a strange way.

Now he looked like a different person, no pudge, lots of muscles, and a stylish haircut. He almost looked like the jocks that any girl would pass him up for. But of course, he was still Greg in the end, and despite these changes he was avoided like he had the plague in school. But for the first time, that was fine with him.

Between the long nights and homework Greg had little time to play video games anymore. He still played them when he had the time, but for the most part he was busy. He drifted away from the few friends he had because he couldn't talk games with them anymore. He didn't spend as much time ogling over capes, and not just because they were a disliked group among The Workers.

"Greg?"

He looked up from the bowl of cereal he had been eating as he waited for his dad to drive him to school. His mom was standing in front of him with her arms crossed and a sour look on her face. She was a short plump woman and somehow that made her more intense when she got angry.

"Yes, Mom?" Greg asked calmly.

"You want to explain this?" Mom held out his white and gold bandana along with an armband. Weeks ago, Greg would have been nervous or even a little scared of his mother finding those things. But right now, he was a little angry she went into his room and touched his stuff. The thought was enough to make Greg pause and wonder if his job had made him more serious than he used to be.

"You went through my stuff?" Greg asked.

"My house, I'll go through your stuff if I please. Now explain this." She threw the cloth on the table and crossed her arms impatiently.

"It's a bandana and an armband," Greg answered honestly.

"They're gang colours." His mom stated angrily. "Is this what you have been doing every night?" When she said it Greg felt a pang of guilt go through him. He spent almost every night at warehouses The Worker's owned around town, secretly or otherwise. They had needed him more since they went public a few days ago. He told his mom he was at work most night, but normal places wouldn't need him that much. The other nights he lied and said he was going over to a friend's place, which was technically true. Stan was a good friend.

His mother hadn't liked it at first but his father actively encouraged it. Greg made the lie specifically for his father, he was the kind of guy that was happy to see his son going out every night working and going out with friends. It reminded his father of his younger days and to him, was much better than having a son that hid in their room and played video games. Even more, it made him proud when he started shaping up, especially when he said it was because he and his friends played sports. His father was easy to predict like that.

"It isn't a gang," Greg answered her. 'It's more than that,' Stan's words echoed in his mind.

"Don't lie to me Greg!" She snapped. "You're part of those Workers aren't you?"

"Mom, no," Greg said. He wanted her to stop, to not push him any more on the topic. But she didn't listen.

"Greg, what is this?" This time, she pulled out the wad of bills Greg had hidden in a sock and threw it on the table. Greg looked down at it and frowned. The Worker's paid well, but they paid too much for a minimum wage job. He had to hide most of his money, that roll just being in his sock drawer. He had a few hundred more in various places around his room.

"Mom, stop." Greg said glumly, rising from his seat in the table.

"No, Greg!" She shouted. "This is unacceptable! It's dangerous to get involved in gangs! And to find out you've been lying to me about going to your friends house? No more! When you come home from school tonight you and I are going to sit down at the table and have a long discussion. Now, go get ready for school, this isn't over."

She looked like she wanted to say more, but Greg's father was standing in the corner shaking his keys impatiently. Greg couldn't tell what exactly the look on his father's face was, but it didn't look good.

"Fine," Greg said in defeat. "I'll just grab my stuff from my room." He pushed past his mother and felt the glare on his back as he walked to his bedroom.

Soon as he closed the door behind him he allowed himself to panic. They were going to make him leave The Workers. The place where he was appreciated, where he was needed. Where he wasn't just the weird nerdy kid in class. He couldn't do it.

Running around his room and grabbing all the cash he had on hand. He grabbed the butterfly knife Stan had given to him a few weeks ago and the box cutter he had used a number of times at work. He overturned his backpack on his bed and startedshoved some clothes and snacks he kept nearby inside of it. When it couldn't hold anymore he took one last look around his room and decided to lock his door for good measure before slipping out the window.

* * *

"Greg!" Stan greeted him as Greg walked into the warehouse, his bag dangling from one shoulder. "Thought ya went to school today?"

"I decided to skip," Greg answered with a shrug. The response caused Stan to break out with a grin.

"Ah, good ta see ya comin' to your senses. Ain't nothing you can learn in school that I can't teach ya. Listen though, I'm glad you're here. We just got a job from the boys upstairs and they need a couple of heavy lifters to do it. They're paying a thousand bucks. You down?"

Greg shrugged uncomfortably. "Uh, what exactly is the job?" Stan paused and looked around to make sure no one was listening. There was a very restricted information chain that even Stan upheld.

"Simple, so simple in fact you've done this before, once," Stan told him in a hushed tone. "We're loading up a van and taking it to that mall on the other side of town. We park out in the loadin' depot and wait for Industry to come take it off our hands."

"We've been getting awfully close to the other gangs," Greg observed. Stan shrugged.

"Guys upstairs made a truce with 'em or somethin', I don't know. You in or what?"

"I don't know," Greg said uncertainly.

"Ah, come on Greg," Stan said cheerfully and punched him in the shoulder. "Like I said, you've done this once before, don't sweat it."

"We weren't a gang when we started," Greg answered sourly. Stan's cheerful expression dropped and he got serious for a moment.

"You know we ain't no gang," Stan said. "We're more than that."

"That's not what the people think."

"Bah, let the people think what they want," Stan said dismissively. "Now come on, the van is ready ta go." Stan turned and started taking large strides towards their ride.

"I didn't agree to anything yet," Greg muttered as he shouldered his bag and went to follow after him.

* * *

Greg paced back and forth nervously while Stan sat on top of the boxes they were supposed to hand off to Industry. They were late.

"Yo, Greg," Stan said after about half an hour of him pacing like that. "Ya think you can chill a minute, you're wearin' a hole in the ground."

"Sorry," Greg apologized quickly, bringing himself to a halt. "I'm anxious. Shouldn't they be here by now?"

"Hey, hey, chill. They probably just held up by a cape fight somewhere. You know how it is." Stan slid off the box and turned to look at the two guys that had come with them. "Ey, you two. Stand around and wait for these guys will ya? Greg and I will bring you back a chilly dog." When he finished speakin he turned back to face Greg and grinned. "Come on, let's head inside."

Stan walked through a set of doors the lead outside of the supply depot and into the mall. Greg fell into step behind him, pulling the strap on his backpack closer to him as he did. Stan led him through several long dark hallways with a massive amount of offshoots and turns. However, Stan seemed to know his way through the place as he took Greg through the passages. He was a little surprised they didn't run into anyone on their way through.

They stopped at a pair of elevators which they took up to the main floor. When the elevator doors opened again it was to a very busy shopping centre with hundreds of people milling about. Greg was already feeling claustrophobic.

"Come on kid," Stan said. "Food court's this way."

Once again Stan led them forward, pushing them forward through the crowd and across the mall, then up an escalator onto a second floor before finishing their journey in the wide half-circle of interlocked stores that made up the food court.

Stan strode over to the Fugly Bob's, the only restaurant window in the food court that wasn't part of a massive international fast-food chain. As he started placing a massive order that would inevitably lead to an argument over a miscommunication with his accent. Greg rolled his eyes before it even had a chance to get started and turned his back to his friend.

Instead, he watched the crowd. He wasn't looking for anything in particular, just watching the people mill back and forth as they went about their business. Hundreds of people, each with a different destination, different goal, a different path, all crossing in the same location. It looked like chaos, but in reality each person was performing their function exactly like they mean to. It was something for him to think about.

He was distracted by one person who seemed to be heading directly for him.

"Greg?" Madison said with a raised eyebrow. She popped out a hip and placed her hand on it in her cutesy style. Two more girls came up behind her and smiled knowingly. Greg recognized one as Julia. He didn't know the third one though.

"Madison," Greg answered stiffly. He would have been more guarded, but after the events of today he honestly just didn't care. "Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Shopping day," Madison answered wistfully. "What about you loser? Shouldn't morons like you get as much school time as they can get." The other two girls behind her giggled a little before the one Greg didn't recognize added,

"He probably forgot it was a school day."

"Or too busy playing video games," Julia suggested. Greg rolled his eyes and sighed.

"Do you really miss Taylor that badly?" Greg asked uncaringly. Madison pulled back in disgust at the suggestion.

"The hell do you mean, fatty?" She asked acidly, eliciting another sigh from Greg.

"I mean Taylor hasn't been at school for a couple weeks. And without the community punching bag, you've been throwing all your shade at me. It's like you can't help but pick on the people you like the most."

"I think this guy is a mistake," Julia suggested. Madison gave a cute smirk and followed up with,

"Yeah, he honestly thinks he is worth the effort? As if."

"Well, you did pick me out of the crowd and approached me," Greg answered dryly. Madison was about to throw a bitter retort when Stan came back up with a massive tray of food.

"Alright Greg I got us some-" Stan paused when he saw the three girls and a smug grin spread across his face. "Hey, Greg! You didn't tell me ya had a connection with the ladies! Been hold out on me kid."

Madison's face twisted in disgust and was about to say 'as if' when the mall exploded.

* * *

"Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck!"

Greg's eyes flew open at the sound of Stan swearing repeatedly. Lying flat on his back Greg could see the ceiling high above him. Too high. The windows were too large, the ceiling was too far away, the supports were creaking like some massive weight was recently put on them.

Greg stumbled to his feet and noted he was bleeding a little above his eye and definitely had some bruises. He chose to ignore that and focus on what was going around him.

Julia and the other girl that had come with them were dead. A massive glass shard had decapitated Julia and the other had been crushed by a large hunk of metal. It was hard to tell exactly what the metal was, but to Greg it looked eerily similar to an escalator step. A human-sized escalator step.

But what got Greg was just how far they were. They had been standing right next to each other before whatever it was went off. Now they were several dozen feet apart. Madison was groaning on the ground, a large piece of glass in her shoulder. However, she looked more traumatized than anything. She stared at her dead friends and got to her hands and knees. Unsure of what to do, Greg watched her as she hugged her knees to her chest and started rocking back and forth.

Stan swore again causing Greg to turn and look at him. He was pinned under a massive steel beam. Above him the roof had collapsed inward, causing the metal support to fall directly onto Stan's left arm.

Stan swore and slammed his right hand against the steel beam. Greg took a step forward to help but stopped when the whole beam moved.

Stan went quiet for a moment while the beam continued to shift. For several seconds the air was filled with the sound of groaning metal as if shifted. And then it began to fall sideways.

Stan scrambled out from underneath it as soon as he was able and ran up to Greg while holding his previously trapped arm close to him. Greg saw the distinct signs of a compound fracture.

It teetered on its side, as if the wall was suddenly the floor and gravity was pulling it sideways. After a moment it finally fell over and punched through the wall as if it was made of glass. On instinct, Stan reached out and waved his hand down. Gravity suddenly corrected its hold on the beam and it did a full flip from the forces now acting on it before landing outside with a massive crash. Its two-floor decent, plus the strange growth effect, making it seem particularly brutal.

"Goddamn it," Stan said quietly. "Goddamn it. Goddamn it!"

"Stan!" Greg yelled. "Calm down!"

"Damn it, Greg, I'm one of them now," Stan said bitterly holding his good arm in front of him to display his hand. "A fucking parahuman."

"I know, I just saw you launch a massive steel beam out of this weird pseudo mall," Greg respond angrily. "But that won't fucking change our situation. We need to get the hell out of here."

"And where the hell is here?" Stan countered. "This ain't the mall I walked into."

Greg nodded seriously as he looked around. He had suspected it at first, but this seemed to prove it. The mall was bigger. They were still in the food court, with tables and chairs upturned and broken with scattered rubble. Only the tables were taller than Greg was.

Whatever happened, it had made the mall bigger. The ceiling was higher, the glass was massive, the steel beams were incredible in size, and the escalator steps were now larger than they were. The tables were a few feet above their head. The tops of chairs were out of arms reach. And now that he was looking for it, he found the tray of food partially crushed by rubble. The food had grown massively.

"Some sort of Tinker bomb," Greg guessed. "Made the whole mall four or five times its size. That or a space warping power."

"Oh, we are fucked," Stan complained. Greg didn't answer. As he scanned their surroundings, his eyes fell on Madison. Still hugging her knees to her chest and the glass shard still in her shoulder.

Greg whipped out his butterfly knife and unslung his backpack from his shoulder. He opened the top and spent a few seconds searching for something. When he found it, he pulled it out and zipped the backpack closed again. It was an old shirt that was too large for him since he lost weight.

Using the butterfly knife, he half cut, half tore the shirt into pieces. With the shreds of it in his hand, he walked over to Madison and knelt down by her side.

"I'm going to pull the glass out now," he told her, not bothering to be gentle or comforting about it. "It's going to hurt but don't move. If a piece breaks off we'll have to open the wound up and pull it out."

Madison bit her lip and nodded slowly. She raised up a bit to give him a better look at her shoulder. The glass was unnaturally thick, courtesy of the Tinker bomb Greg had guessed it to be. But that made it easier to pull out without breaking it.

Madison let out a hiss as the shard was removed, but Greg didn't give her a moment to react because as soon as it was out he was tightly wrapping the shreds of his old shirt around it with uncomfortable tightness.

"Fuck," she swore. "Do you have to tie it so tightly?"

"Yes," Greg answered simply. Madison laughed at his answer.

"When did you grow a pair?"

"A while back, now we need to find a way out of this mall"

"And you know," Stan said sourly, "Maybe fix my goddamn arm."

"Either way," Greg stated firmly. "We need to get moving."


	59. Chapter 59: Greg pt2

Greg, Stan, and Madison crept up behind another steel beam that had slammed against the ground. It had been five days already, or at least as far as Greg could tell as the light wasn't passing by. In the five days, Greg had learned the important things. Just because everything had gotten bigger didn't mean the supports could always hold the roof together, massive doors were impossible to move even if the handles could be reached or turned, and people were dicks.

They approached a group of thirty plus people stealthily to avoid being seen. This group had taken control of the food court sometime after the three of them left to try and fail to find an exit. And they weren't the only ones, a few dozen smaller groups of people had been taking over shops and otherwise as much as they could. This group happened to outdo the others as they had already started recruiting others into them with the promise of food and safety.

Greg was about to motion the other two forward while he would make a distraction for them when suddenly a distraction came out of nowhere for them.

A young woman suddenly darted across the broken tile floor that made up most of the food court open space, a creepy looking man chasing after her with a laugh. The men in the group Greg had been approaching suddenly got up from where they were sitting and let out a joyful holler before leaping up to join the chase.

Greg looked back at the other two and said,

"Stan, do your thing."

Stan nodded to Greg, and the next time he blinked Stan was gone. Greg turned back to look at the ten or so women that stayed behind as the men they were with left to chase the girl. Greg suddenly felt Madison tugging on his shirt. He turned around and saw her staring at him seriously.

"We have to help her," Madison whispered. Greg considered it for a moment, then nodded. He glanced back at the woman for a moment and told her,

"You start running and I'll pretend I'm chasing after you." Madison nodded and leapt to her feet a second later. Most groups wouldn't attack on sight, but people were getting desperate now, so running had become something of a staple in recent days.

Greg moved and started chasing after her just like the other men had. Casting a side glance at the woman guarding the storefront they were in he saw they were tense, but not coming after him. Good.

Madison followed the path the other men had taken, going into the kitchen of some fast food location in the place. It wasn't hard to find them, as they had her cornered underneath a batch of fryers that stood impossibly tall.

The two of them snuck behind what looked like a dropped spatula and watched what was going on. They were circled around her, moving in slowly just to taunt the girl as she desperately looked for a way out. The gestures they were making were… not so family friendly.

"I can make a distraction," Greg stated. "Maybe draw a few away, then you go in and-"

He was cut off when the girl suddenly erupted in light. It took a moment for Greg to make out what was happening, but in a few moments she had gone to being surrounded by men to attacking them with some weird tentacles made of light.

The men that had been chasing her scattered, getting struck by the tentacles as they ran. Most made it out, but a few were launched several dozen feet by the swinging tendrils, catching fire wherever they were hit.

Before he could stop her, Madison stepped out and started walking towards her slowly, her hands up in the air.

"Godamn it," Greg sighed, not moving from where he was.

"Hey," Madison called out. "It's okay, we're not going to hurt you."

Instantly, the tendrils flew towards her, but stopped just short of hitting her.

"Why?" the girl asked suspiciously.

"Because we're not assholes!" Madison said with a nervous laugh. "Look, we just want to get out of here, we can help each other. So just… stop using your power and we can, you know, talk about it or something."

The girl hesitated a moment, then dropped to her knees, the tendrils retreating back into her body.

"I knew I should have never come to this damn city." She stated. Greg careful got out from where he had been hiding and slowly walked over toward them. "Ever since I came here it's been nothing but trouble."

"Why would you want to come to this city anyway, the whole place is falling apart," Madison said lightly, moving to help her up. The girl wiped her sleeve across her mouth and laughed a little.

"I came looking for my father, he is sort of famous around here. Or at least, he soon will be if he isn't already."

"Really?" Greg asked skeptically. "Who's your father?"

The girl looked alarmed for a moment but calmed down once she saw Madison wasn't bothered by his presence. She took a deep breath and shook her head.

"He goes by a lot of names," she stated. "But you probably know him best as Max Clay."

* * *

Greg stoked the fire he had made out of a broken chair. They were in an old laser tag arena, made pitch black by the lack of electricity. It had become something of a base of operations for them, a place to sleep and store supplies whenever they went out scavenging. Over the last few days more and more people had been flocking to the groups, or tribes as Stan called them, that controlled the different fast food joints. There was another tribe in front of the main entrance, working every day trying to get it open without any luck.

Greg was pulled out of his thoughts when Madison suddenly sat down next to him.

He glanced at her. Stan and Zoe were asleep on opposite sides of the fire, so for now it was just them.

"I don't get you," Madison admitted, staring into the fire aimlessly. "You used to be this fat weirdo that everyone just laughed at. You were someone to attack when Taylor wasn't around. Then one day you changed. Like overnight you got in shape, you stopped annoying other people, you stopped trying to be cool, and now we're here. You're leading us, Greg, and it doesn't make any sense to me. How could someone like you be like this now?"

"Hmm," Greg thought silently, stoking the fire again with a long stick. After a minute he said, "I don't know. Maybe I just stopped caring."

"You stopped caring?" She asked dryly. "About what?"

"About people, in general, I guess. I mean, you and your friends were pointless. When I really stopped and looked at it was easy to see nothing in high school is really going to matter later in life, particularly your little cult you call friends. Video games though, those are always going to be great."

Madison paused for a moment, then snorted. "You are such an ass."

"Yeah, probably," Greg admitted. "But I've got my head on straight now, and I've to manage to help you and these two through this so far so I'd say I'm doing a decent job."

They fall silent for a while, watching the fire crackle and pop as it ate the wood. The high ceilings took care of most of the smoke, letting it funnel into air shafts where it could. Eventually, Madison spoke again, saying,

"God, were we really that bad?"

There was something in her tone that made Greg pause a moment. He cast her a sideways glance. She looked… shaken.

"How do you mean?" He asked slowly.

"I mean how terrible we were. Almost none of us were friends just for the sake of being friends. It was always about popularity, looking cute, being on top. And being on top meant punishing those on bottom, and rallying the other girls that wanted to be on top to help us do it. We did it to everyone, plus you and Taylor. But here," she gestured around them, "nothing matters. It's all bullshit. And I just- I just can't-" She stopped and held her head. After a second, she stood up and left without a word. He briefly considered going after her, but she probably wanted to be alone.

So he turned back to the fire and threw a few more stick on to it. Keeping it going until the others woke up.

* * *

Greg gasped as the crazed lunatic stabbed the carved stake into his shoulder. He brought out his own knife and attempted to jam it into her throat, but she was faster. She knocked it out of the way and tried to get closer to stab him again. Greg grit his teeth and dived to the side, rolling to his feet in the process. Stan and Zoe weren't anywhere to be found, probably still off trying to see if there was a way for them to open a door like he had asked them too. He silently cursed himself for not bringing at least one of them along.

The crazy lady ran at him again, but Greg darted behind a pile of enormous clothing that had fallen down and grabbed a handful of it. This time, when the lady charged he pulled out the large length of shirt and caught her in it. He ran around her once, letting her get tangled enough he felt he could run back a little.

He checked the wound in his shoulder. It was pretty deep, but he couldn't give it any attention yet. He still had to deal with the lady running right at him.

This time, he was ready. He got low and prepared to go in for a quick stab right into her chest went suddenly there was a loud clapping sound before a wave of energy slammed into the crazy lady and sent her flying.

Greg blinked in surprise once and looked around, only to find Madison standing still and looking more than a little shaken.

"Madison?" He asked slowly. "What was that?"

"...my power." She said quietly.

"When did you…?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she responded bitterly. She strode forward and grabbed Greg by the arm. "You're hurt," she stated. "Let's focus on getting that fixed."

"Maddy," Greg said seriously. "If something happened to you then-,"

"I said I don't want to talk about it Greg." Madison snapped. Then a lot quieter she said, "Why can't you just be the oblivious weirdo and make this easy on me?"

Greg raised an eyebrow and said, "Weird? Oh, I can do weird if that's what you really want."

"What do you mean?" Madison askedskeptically. Greg grinned.

* * *

"Alright darlings, who's ready to break out of this joint!" Greg shouted as flamboyantly as possible. Stan and Madison looked at each other for a moment.

"Did he hit his head really hard?" Stan asked, confused.

"I… I don't even know," Madison answered weakly. Zoe thought for a second, then giggled and said,

"I think I like it, it's very…." she searched for the word she needed.

"Fantastic?" Greg offered. "Sexy? Amazing? Inspiring?"

"Really really gay?" Stan offered.

"Show boaty," Zoe stated with a grin. "Anyone who can make a good show of things is doing it right."

"I'll keep that in mind," Greg said, dropping the act for a moment. "Wow, that is tiring to do."

"Well don't stop on our account," Zoe said in amusement. "It's fun to watch."

"If you insist darling, you know I can't resist putting on a good show."

Madison and Stan groaned simultaneously.

"Can we just try and get out of here?" Madison asked weakly. "It has been two weeks since I've gotten to use a real toilet and I'm just about done."

"Why, of course, we can," Greg said with a grin, resisting the urge to wince as he moved his injured shoulder a little too much. "We're just going fight out with through those dismal men blocking the main entrance."

"Easy," Stan said with a shrug. "I'll just walk on up ta them and hit 'em with my weird gravity hands stuff."

"You forget about us doofus?" Zoe asked. "We can't walk through the gravity field like you can. It'll probably be better if I just zap 'em with my tentacles."

"Mhmm, don't forget darlings that once we're outside the door the world can see you, and you don't want them all knowing your faces now do you?" They glanced at each other and shrugged. Greg rolled his eyes and dropped the act for a moment.

"But seriously, it'll be better if we don't expose your power just yet. Particularly if they all ever get out of this situation. Now Stan, because your teleport is based on the very idea no one is looking directly at you, you can use your power to jump around and hit people if worst comes to worst. But you two," he pointed at Madison and Zoe, "It's pretty obvious when you use your powers. So the three of us will try to sneak past while Stan creates some chaos if we get caught. You all got it?"

They each looked at each other and nodded. Stan though, rubbed the back of his head and shrugged before saying,

"You know? I get the feelin' that this ain't going to play out very well for us."

* * *

As it turned out, Stan was right. As soon as they got to the door they had to use Zoe's tendrils to cut a hole inside the door. Which meant he and Madison had to hold off the crazy people attempting to take the resources they had on them. Greg's knife, in particular, seemed to be of great importance to these people.

"Is this all it takes-" Madison paused to hit another person with the makeshift pole she was using. "-for people to go crazy? Two weeks?"

"I can almost believe it," Greg said through grit teeth and a man latched on to the wrist of the hand holding his knife. Greg reared back and punched the man square in the jaw. All those months of lifting heavy boxes seemed to have done him good because he went down in one hit.

He turned back around and saw a larger group of five women storming him. He braced himself to fight them off when suddenly Stan was behind them, knocking them to the ground. Greg nodded to him and double checked to make sure no one had gotten to Zoe yet. If Stan hadn't been doing his thing they probably would have been overrun by now.

"I got it!" Zoe shouted, standing up to reveal the massive hole metal through what used to be a thin glass door.

"Get going!" Greg said, already taking some steps back toward the new exit. Zoe didn't need telling twice before slipping out. Madison was right behind her, throwing her pole into the face of the man she had been fighting and ducking out. Stan, unsurprisingly, simply teleported to the other side when no one was looking. Leaving Greg to crawl through the hole last.

Someone grabbed on to his leg and stabbed him with something sharp as he tried to crawl through. He hissed and looked back, ready to stab them with his knife only to see one of Zoe's tendrils smack him in the face. It left a nasty burn mark.

Greg climbed the rest of the way through and ran a few dozen feet away from it. Already people were bottling up on the other side in an attempt to get out, spending more time fighting each other than actually leaving.

Greg turned back and observed their surroundings. In front of them was the entire parking lot between them and the edge of some strange bubble. And just like with the mall itself, the parking lot had grown. Several miles, by the look of it.

"What now?" Madison asked.

"We run," Greg answered, starting forward despite the wound to his leg. He's had worse. The others were quick to join him.

* * *

It was hard to tell when they should stop for sleep, as it was constantly daytime. But eventually, they got tired and had to stop. Several hours of walking had taken their toll. They ran into some other people, thankfully more calm and collected than the insane ones at the door. And after a fashion, they sort of traveled together. Neither really talk to the other, it was more like they were traveling next to each other, but each appreciated the fact neither outright attacked them.

They made camp underneath a pickup truck that had been high off the ground in the first place by the way it was raised, it's shadow almost producing a nighttime effect. Most people were attempting to sleep on the hard ground with whatever pillows or blankets they brought with them. Greg was leaning up against the rubber tire, not really feeling sleepy when Madison suddenly moved closer to him. For a long time, she didn't say anything. Just sat side by side with him. Then she asked,

"So is the weird acting gay thing going to become normal or…"

Greg snorted a little and shook his head with a smile. "I don't think so. Once we get out of here we'll probably go back to normal, as much as we can that is."

"Well," Madison began. "I was thinking, what happens if we can get out? What happens if we get to the end of the dome and we can't get through?"

"We'll just have to figure it out," Greg said steadily. Madison studied his face for a moment then shook her head before moving into a more snuggling position and closed her eyes with an odd smirk.

"You're really weird Greg Veder. It's… different."

"Glad you like it," he replied offhandedly.

"Still don't know when to shut up though."

"Well, I could always-"

"Greg, stop talking."

He did.

* * *

Kid Win was waiting for them on the other side as they stepped through the barrier. It was… a strange experience to say the least. But Greg was more than happy just to get out to be bothered by it.

"Woah," Kid Win said, taking a step back. "What the heck? How did you get out? What's going on in there?"

Greg looked around. People were gathering around the edges of the weird bubble that surrounded the mall. The PRT looked like it had just arrived and there seemed to be a general air of disorder running around. He didn't like it.

"How long?" Greg asked, surprisingly breathless, though he wasn't sure why. "How long were we in there?"

"I couple of hours," Kid Win said slowly, then it dawned him. "But, it wasn't a few hours for you, was it?"

Greg swallowed and shook his head silently, glancing back towards the others.

"Well, the PRT is going to want to look you all over, make sure you're okay. And hear what you have to say about what happened of course."

He paused and considered it a moment, almost complying instantly. But then he remembered that three of them were capes, and Stan was a member of the Workers. Going with the PRT wouldn't end while for any of them.

"No," Greg said with a shake of his head. "We just want to go home. We don't need medical treatment or anything."

"Uh, yes you do?" Kid Win said, unsure of himself. "All of you look pretty beat up and-"

"No," Greg said flatly. He turned back towards the others and gestured for them to follow him. "Come on guys, we can head to my house until this all gets sorted.

Greg stared up at a loss. Most of his house had been consumed by the Kaiser's blades from when he apparently threw a hissy fit. But they left just enough of his house intact for him to walk inside and see his mother and father impaled on them, not ten feet apart.

Greg looked back down and closed his eyes, squeezing his fists together. He was vaguely aware of the others saying things around him, but he wasn't listening. He was just… angry. Angry at all the capes in the city that let this happen. And he never wanted it to happen again.

Suddenly, he could feel strange sources from all around the city. Like a candle's light shining through the darkness a mile away. It was a subtle feeling, in the back of his mind. Experimentally, he latched onto one of these strange sources and immediately thoughts of technology filled his mind. Specifically, efficiency-based technology. He reached out again, not even letting go of the first source. The next light gave him some sort of vehicle-based knowledge. A third showed him one about making some objects turn into other objects. And there were more than a dozen sources. Each one based on a different technology of some kind.

"Greg?" Madison asked, shaking him. "Greg? Are you okay?"

He blinked and looked around. Zoe, Stan, and Madison were all looking at him. Greg swallowed and clenched a fist.

"I will be," he answered.


	60. Chapter 60

"Are you sure about this?" I asked, glancing at Showman for a moment.

"Sure," he answered with a shrug. "It's going to be fine. Probably. Or at least, it's nothing that would be a serious risk to you."

"Oh, well if that's all," I drawled. The face on his screen mask rolled its eyes. "But seriously though," I tried again. "What happened since I last saw you?"

"Stuff. Things." He answered vaguely, not for the first time.

"Yeah," Whiplash said, inserting herself into the conversation. "Maybe not the best conversation topic for now, you know, powers and all."

I shook my head. "I guess. Either way, I'm giving you four the benefit of the doubt. And only because I sort of know him," I pointed a hoof at Showman. Honestly, more out of the fact that the Greg I knew before tried to be kind when he could, and I couldn't imagine he was that far away from that. "Don't make me regret it. You won't like where that leads."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Showman answered dryly. Suddenly, the projected face he wore brightened and several pink lights around his suit turned on as he straightened up. "Alright dearies, let's do this thing!"

I looked at the other three and raised an eyebrow. "He do this a lot?" I asked.

"Eh, more or less," Quantumlock responded with a bored shrug.

Showman strode forward, leading the way into a largely burned out building they had taken me too. It was only a few blocks away from where we had first met up, giving him a chance to explain the situation in more detail to me. Though, I was only really half listening as I spent most of my time balking at the fact it was fricken Greg! That was… easily the strangest thing to happen since I became a magic cartoon unicorn pegasus. I felt like that said more about Greg than it did me.

He and Vibrasonic moved to led the way, with Quantumlock and Whiplash walking behind me as we continued to walk into the building. The inside was far more intact than the outside seemed to be, with the charring seeming to end at the windows and the inside being relatively untouched. That was curious to me, as buildings on the far side of the burned section of the city had been burned by the spreading fire from the Behemoth fight. The houses closer to the edge were completely flattened by a number of factors. But this building seemed to fall into a strange middle ground where the outside got flash fried as the flame sucked the oxygen out of the air, leaving the inside more or less intact as the flames snuffed themselves out.

The place seemed to have been a small office building or something like it. Showman lead us past a reception area and down a different hallway before getting to a large conference room, with Quantumlock standing outside the door.

"How did you-" I began, looking back to where Quantumlock had been standing behind me.

"Took a shortcut," he answered, turning to the side and holding the door open for me. Neither Vibrasonic or Showman seemed to be surprised by this, so I just rolled with it. There were stranger things, like Greg.

Showman walked into the room first. I could hear him playing some sort of song very faintly for effect.

"Why, hello everyone," he said to the people inside. "Guess who I brought?" I took that as my cue. Wait, since when did I start taking cue? I shook my head, if I thought about this too hard it was going to give me a headache.

Walking inside, I saw that every criminal that still mattered was either sitting or standing around the table. Lung was standing with his arms crossed as his little insane creature on all fours next to him, his creepy smile leering at everyone. Coil sat at the table calmly with three armed mercenaries. A Merchant cape I barely recognized as Whirlygig was lounging back with two other capes there with her. I saw there were two independents I recalled as barely C-list villains. Faultline was here, along with some out of town group I recognized from somewhere. What was their name? The Jaws? The Teeth?

And of course, there wasn't any Empire representation to speak of.

"Nova," Coil began amicably. "Glad you could join us."

"I'm not sure why," I answered suspiciously as I walked to the end of the conference table.

"Agreed," Lung growled from the other end. I glanced at him briefly and found him staring at me tensely.

"Well, it's quite simple," Coil answered. "We find ourselves in something of an existential crisis."

"Explain," I stated. The sooner this was over the better. Coil nodded and steepled his fingers together as he began to explain.

"With the Empire almost completely destroyed after the Endbringer fights, vast amounts of the city is left up for claim. Normally, myself and the ABB would be the two largest contenders for this territory. But with the Merchants turning over a new leaf recently and trying to extend their influence, they too will be making a bid for this opportunity. The Teeth also play into the equation. But all in all, this would be a zero-sum gang war for the lot of us.

"The ABB is built on the back of normal people with Lung's power backing them up," Coil continued, leaning forward. "My situation is rather similar. If it were just us, it would be a city-wide firefight. Something on a scale that hasn't been seen since cape gangs came into existence. Factor in The Merchants and The Teeth and what Lung will have to do to fight them off after having lost Oni Lee, and massive cape battles are guaranteed as well. A fight would be very bloody and very destructive. And seeing how we managed to get out of the largest Endbringer battle in history with the smallest amount of property damage and death count, it would be a real disappointment if we devolved into that. Add in the fact how weakened we would all be and your own presence in the city and it's a guarantee that we would lose more than we gained from both the heroes and you attacking us. Leaving us with only one real option.

"Peacefully agree to split up the city," he finished. I looked around at the others around the table. Lung nodded seriously to me and the cape representing The Teeth gave a sour agreement. Whirlygig was unreadable as she was.

"And where do I factor into this," I asked, turning back towards Coil.

"The Enforcer," he stated. "In normal life, it takes some pretty extraordinary circumstances for different villain groups to agree to work together for any period of time, particularly when so much lucrative opportunity is available. There needs to be a third party, someone with considerable power that doesn't quite fit into hero or villain that can keep the peace and enforce the terms of the agreement. And if recent events are anything to go by, you aren't quite a hero anymore."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "What do you know about that?"

"The city knows you thrashed the Triumvirate," Lung stated suddenly. "You went in, took whatever it was you wanted, and left. Leaving the PRT unsure of what to do next. Very hard to do, very dangerous game."

"True," Coil said with a nod. "But not completely unwelcome. Before you did this, Team Vigil and other independents were the only ones that truly fit what we needed, but none of them measures up to your power. And thus we can ensure a much stronger peace."

"So what you want from me," I began slowly, "is for me to allow you villains and criminals to take over the city after having just gotten rid one of The Empire. On top of that, you want me to help protect your claims to the city."

"A lot of people could die otherwise," Coil stated passively. I took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. What he was describing was a lose-lose situation for me. Either I do this, assist villains in an effort to protect people from a massive gang war or let it it happen. But if I help them get control, what happens after that? What happens when the Merchants are able to flood more parts of the city with drugs? What is Lung going to do with this much more power and assets without the Empire to keep him and his gang in check? And Coil? There was any direction he could go. Not to mention what would happen if The Teeth came back to the city. And would that make me responsible for those lives ruined because of it?

Yeah, probably.

I took a deep breath and thought about it for the moment. And the more I thought about it the more I hated the place I was being put in. Then I realized, maybe I was being put here intentionally.

For all the logic Coil might have had for making me the power that catalyzes the peace agreement between them, it also pust the future of the city on firmly me and far away from them. And no matter what choice I make, it ends badly for a people. There was a tiny Will in my head shouting about how my name would get dragged through the mud in the public eye. Along with tiny Cheshire telling me I could use this to my advantage. But… I wasn't smart enough to think of a way to do that. I could purposely sabotage one group, let everyone else have a piece of the city and deny either The Teeth or Merchants. But that would only partially solve the problem.

In my mind, there was only one thing I could think of that might work. One thing that could possibly come to a good conclusion when all other paths don't.

I could lie.

I took a deep breath and steeled myself. This wasn't going to be pretty.

"Show me what you had in mind."

"Excellent," Coil stated, pulling out a map.


	61. Chapter 61

I might have manipulated things just a little. I'm no Will, and certainly no Cheshire, but anyone that's gotten through a middle school class of history can tell you what a common enemy can do. And since I'm supposed to be keeping a peace between villains, it made sense to me to give them just that. Someone to rally against.

So I cut out The Teeth, told them in no uncertain terms they weren't welcome in the city and gave Lung and Coil more territory that would have gone to them. Needless to say, they weren't very happy that. Lung was though, and Coil couldn't complain. And if they attempted to do anything in the city. Me, Coil, Lung, and The Merchants come down on them. It would have to do for now, but a little bit of fighting was inevitably going to happen. This way, it's concentrated on keeping another gang out of the city.

The new map was vastly different from the old one, unsurprisingly. Lung now controlled from the Docks well across Shanty Town and into downtown. Coil took all of the Empire's Boardwalk properties and the rest of downtown, as well as the upper-class neighbourhoods on the other side of the city. Whirlygig took everything else. Picking up scraps and worthless territories from all over the city, none of them really connecting to each other in any way. Their main territory was in the lower class area where the city planning screwed up and factories and houses got put next to each other, just as it had always been.

But besides the territory agreements, there were other things that needed to be addressed. The first proposal I attempted to swing was to stop all gang activity in its entirety, to limit what they could do to collecting protection money and patrolling their territory. But that didn't get received very well and it got a bit heated. Coil, however, proved to be very good at defusing a situation and making things reasonable.

The final tenets of this peace weren't great, but better than the norm. No forced prostitution, forceful recruitment, no violence against civilians, and no forcing people to take drugs. I didn't want them at all, but I knew better than to think I could stop it completely. Drug dealing, by its nature, is done under the table by a lot of people in a lot of places. Even I went on an arresting spree, I doubt I'd be able to get even half of the drug dealers in the city. I did manage to get Lung and Coil to agree to stop the distribution of drugs in their territory. With any luck, The Merchants would drive up the price because of that it make it hard for most people to purchase them. I'm sure Cheshire could have rigged the system a little better, but I was happy I managed that.

In the end, they were more like a mafia than a gang. They were pseudo-police of their territory and collected protection money for it. Some illegal activity was allowed, so long it was under the radar, and with any luck, the drug trade in the city would take a hit too.

The final thing agreed upon would be that Showman and his team would also help enforce this peace, being vigilante heroes themselves. And with all that set in stone, I teleported back to the tree to start thinking about how to betray them in a way that doesn't completely blow up in my face.

The tree responded to my arrival almost immediately. I had teleported just outside of it just to make sure I didn't teleport on top of anyone, and the branches opened up to invite me in instantly. I wondered how she could see me when I flying in the air.

As I descended into the tree, I found Lisa and Shadow Stalker hanging around in the main area. Panacea had created something of a kitchen made both of the crystal parts of the tree and actually appliances. The way the table and counters were made of the tree made it kind of hard to tell where the appliances started and ended.

"You're back," Lisa observed from where she sat around the table. Then she raised an eyebrow at me. "And you've been busy. Heroes? No, villains. Lots of villains and… Oh dear."

"Yeah," I mutter move to the table. "Been busy."

"What to fill me in?" Shadow Stalker asked. I glanced at her. She was sitting away from the table with one foot planted on the edge and her arms crossed.

"The The ABB, Coil, The Merchants, and The Teeth were all ready to slaughter each other," I explained to her. "They asked me to enforce a peaceful division of the city."

"And you did?" She asked curiously.

"Oh boy did she," Lisa said breathlessly. She looked at me seriously for a moment and said, "You're going to explain to me exactly what you agreed to later."

"Sure," I answered with a shrug. I turned and looked at Shadow Stalker. She was still wearing her costume from the other day, reminding me of something.

"Shadow Stalker," I stated.

"What?"

"Your mask. You know who we are, if you're gonna be hanging around you might as well do the same."

"Interesting," Lisa said, leaning back with a amused expressoin. I raised an eyebrow at her before turning back to Shadow Stalker. She raised a hand to her face then hesitated for a second. After a moment of consideration, she removed her mask.

Its was Sophia. Wait, didn't I know that? I swear I learned this some where, what was it? I thought about it for a few moments, it was on the tip of my tongue. But I couldn't quite recall exactly what it was. Maybe Lisa had told me? Yes, that was it. Some time ago she had told that. I didn't remember when but I was sure she told me.

"Why?" I demanded of her. That could mean a couple things, but she took it at its face value.

She shrugged uncaringly. "Because you got strong. You stopped letting others push you around, and now here you are. Where else would I be?"

I took a deep breath and shook my head with a deep sigh. Honestly? It didn't bother me that much. Ever since this whole thing started it's been one revelation after another. Will, Imp and Purity, Ragnarok, Biohazard, all three Endbringers, Greg. At this point, the idea that Sophia Hess was Shadow Stalker didn't bother all that much, considering I had already moved past the fact that Shadow Stalker had murdered someone out of some twist version of kindness. My life had gotten weird.

"You know what?" I said, looking up at them. "I'm going to check on the others and then we can all head out to look for Will and what not. Sound good to all of you?" Sophia shrugged and stayed silent. Lisa, though, hesitated.

"Er, Taylor," she began. "When you talk to Amy be…" She seemed to search for the best way to approach it. After a moment, something clicked.

"You remember when you two first met, what she was doing that got you concerned."

"She was working herself into the ground," I stated, not seeing where she was going with this.

"Yes, partly because she felt like she had a duty to, but mostly because her home life was not so great. And now she's lost her sister and…" Lisa gestured around the kitchen area. "This room and appliances didn't come out of nowhere."

"Oh." I hug my head at the thought of Glory Girl. It was hard, with so much going to really stop and consider things like that. Ever since the Sentient cropped up, we've been losing people all over the place. And it's been hard on a lot of people. I've lost two friends to it, but to prevent more I've had to work so hard and fast. Glory Girl wasn't even cold in the ground yet and I just made a peace agreement with villains. So much to do so fast, I barely had time to think about her besides my initial reaction. It made me feel guilty I hadn't considered what Amy might have been feeling, as if she could focus on the tasks at hand like I have been.

"I'll… see what I can do," I said, turned and starting to walk up the spiral ramp that lined the walls of the tree. As I walked, I recalled something Will had told a while back. I had a Master effect, an effect that made people want to talk about their issues. He only noticed it because he had such fine control over his own personality that he realized something was affecting it. And Lisa has probably has figured it out by now.

It made Rune talk about not wanting to be in the E88, it made Panacea want to agree not to work as hard and then later got her to come to my house when things got bad at home. It made Will stop acting like a supervillain and more like the mischievous people expert he was. Purity, Aisha, my father. All people that have been more than a little open since my transformation. And now it was time to return to Amy and help again.

'Yay therapy horse,' I thought dryly.


	62. Chapter 62

In order going up the ramp, my Dad's room was first. Then Aisha, then Amy. So first thing's first, my father's room.

I knocked on the door with a hoof and waited for it to open. After a second, I heard a soft voice from inside say,

"Come in."

Carefully, I opened the door and peered inside. Dad was sitting on his bed, leaning against the wall as he stared off aimlessly.

"Dad?" Immediately, he blinked and looked at me before smiling sadly.

"Taylor," he said, getting up from the bed.

"Uh, hey," I answered awkwardly. "What are you doing?"

He hesitated, thinking about it for a moment before shaking his head. "Nothing, just thinking."

"About what?" I pressed, walking fully into the room and closing the door behind me.

He offered a half-hearted shrug. "Just… the future. How thing are going to be from here on out and it's… strange."

"How so?"

A wry smile appeared on his face. "Do remember the very first night you wanted to head out? To train, you said, and I was worried about you? Can you imagine that I was once worried that you were going to get into a fight with just one of the gangs back then?"

"To be fair, I was just a filly back then."

He snorted and shook his head. "Either way, I was just thinking about that and it's sort of telling about the way things are now, isn't it? I don't need to protect you anymore, and it's not like my power could protect you in any way your own magic couldn't. I don't put food on the table anymore, I don't own our home now. Not like I have my union job anymore even if I did. I'm just… a passenger really."

"You're not a passenger," I protested. "You've helped us do stuff all the time."

"I know, I know," he said. "I didn't word that well. It's just that I don't really have a reason to be here anymore."

I stared at him, not believing what he was saying. "What are you talking about?"

"Taylor, I'm your father. I'm supposed to provide for you, to care for you. I failed when Annette died. I failed to do anything when I saw you struggling in school, thinking you would come to me if it got too bad. And now? You don't need me. Your friends have given you more support and care than I have, and you've done a better job providing for yourself than I have. So whenever I look at these walls, or at you flying around the place, or hanging out with your friends, I just get reminded how short of the mark I've fallen."

"Dad. You are my dad and you've done your best. No one is expecting you to grow a crystal tree house out of the ground for me."

He fixed me with a sad smile and shook his head. "You sort of missed the point, but yeah, I guess a crystal tree house was a little outside my budget. It's just… I'm a little at a loss Taylor. Normally, when dads think about their daughters becoming independent it's when they're eighteen and going to live on their own. Instead, I'm living in your house and you don't even have a driver's license. Taylor I'm just not… needed around here."

"Yes, you are," I stated, putting my hoof down. I wanted to add something to that, but nothing came to mind. He heaved a sigh and shook his head.

"Well, I'm glad you think so."

"Hey," I said, moving closer. I was taller than him, so I had to bend to make it work, but he got the message and wrapped his arms around my neck. "You are needed around here," I said.

"..."

* * *

I found Aisha's door slightly open. Gently nudging it wider I found her sitting on her bed playing on the game system Lisa and I had gotten her. Seriously? When did Amy bring the television, game system, and the internet router to the tree? And why were they in Aisha's room? And where was the electricity coming from?

Ugh, too many thoughts.

"Hey Aisha," I said, coming into the room. She briefly glanced up at me before turning back to her game.

"Hey," she offered noncommittally.

"Just wanted to check in, see how you're doing after… everything happen."

"...I'm fine."

"Really?"

"No," she sighed. Of course not, that be too easy.

"Alright," I started, trotting on over to her. Had I been my smaller self, I would have hopped up on the bed to sit next to her. As it stood, I sat on the floor sort of near her. More or less the same.

"So," I began. "What's-"

"Does it say something that I've only known you a couple of days but so far you and a white supremacist have been less of a jackass than my brother?"

Okay, that was a little sudden. I got the impression maybe she had been wanting to unload that long before I stopped by.

"I don't know," I said truthfully. I didn't know, but I could guess. "Your brother is probably under a lot of stress and what not. He is working for the PRT and Protectorate, and let's not pretend like these recent days have been easy on them at all."

"Wasn't a good bit of that your fault?"

"Either way," I stressed, "I'm sure he was probably thinking about your best interests."

"Yeah, because older brothers always know what's best for their sisters right?"

That comment threw me off balance for a moment. I think she was just being general sarcastic, she probably didn't even know what she had reminded me of. Either way, the images played back in my mind and suddenly this whole situation felt… decidedly uncomfortable.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," I answered slowly. She cocked an eyebrow at me and rolled her eyes.

"Of course not. You know what the fun part of staying around with you was? Not having people care enough about me to tell me what to do. I was free to come and go, laugh at whatever I want to with no one shooting me dirty looks, it was perfect. And you didn't tell me not to go into dangerous situations, you encouraged it because I have a power. My brother would be just the opposite.

"Now? I'm stuck in a crystal tree because my brother turned both of us into criminals." She sighed and shook her head, lifting the control up and resuming the game.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

"Not really," she answered dryly. "My beef is with my brother, not you or anyone else. But if you're heading out, take me with you. It's boring around her."

"Can do," I said with a happy nod. As I got up and started to walk out the room I could help but think that Aisha was going to be just fine.

* * *

"Amy," I asked as I knocked on her door. No response. I knocked again and waited. Again, same thing. I cracked the door open slowly and looked inside, seeing her still in her chair. Only now, her eyes were closed.

"Amy?" I asked nervously, walking over to her. Her lips were moving, but only small hiss-like sounds were coming out. "Amy?" I stated again, this time louder and giving her a shake.

Her eyes flew open and she seemed dazed. She blinked a few times before looking around, taking in where she was. After a moment, she began to sit up and pull herself out of her daze.

"I'm… sorry," she mumbled. "There is just so much. So much to see, so much to do. I sometimes get a little…lost?"

"Are you asking me?" I questioned, cocking a concerned eyebrow at her. Seeing her so out of it was a little disconcerting.

"I don't know," she said with a small shake of her head. "I'm only one mind and I'm studying a city cable of holding thousands of people while also experimenting with what the tree can do. It's like my consciousness is flying down streets as fast as I can process what's happening and finding my way back is a little disorienting. It's getting easier, but that's sort of the problem."

"Because the easier it is the more you can do and explore," I guessed. She nodded. "Maybe you should take a break?" I suggested. She swallowed and shook her head.

"I can't," she told me, perhaps a little too earnestly. "If I leave now it would take forever to find my place again. Figuring out the tree it like reading three-dimensional words on a four-dimensional page and… I really don't want to stop right now."

"Please?" I tried weakly. I mentally kicked myself for not bringing Lisa with me to talk her out of it, knowing she would be much more convincing with it. "We're heading out to find Will, and maybe arrest some criminals and what not. I'm sure there are a lot of people that would find Flower Knight a welcome sight."

She smiled sadly and shook her head. "As tempting as that sounds, you're the one people like seeing. You go on ahead though, I'll grow some prison cells in the basement if you don't think the PRT can handle it."

We have a basement?

"Are you sure?" I asked, pushing the basement question out of my mind.

"Yeah."

"...Is there anything you want to talk about?" I had been a little too forward with it, I could tell. Immediately Amy's expression fell and she drew her eyebrows together as confliction flashed across her face.

"I…" she began unsteadily. She swallowed once and continued. "I do. I just… Not right Taylor. I'd rather just keep working on the tree."

"Well, okay," I responded, feeling more than a little put off. I lowered my head a bit and let my ears droop. "But when you want to, you'll find me right?"

"...Yeah."

* * *

"Alright," I said, forcing a happier expression as I joined the others on the roof. They were all in costume. Imp, Desh, Cheshire, and Shadow Stalker, all geared up and ready to go.

"Desh, Imp, and Shadow Stalker, you're going to be scouting on the ground. Desh will use his rats to keep a tab on the general area, Imp you're going to sneak into places and get a good look at them to see what's going on. Shadow Stalker, you move in and _arrest_ people if you need to.

"Can do," Imp said with a mock salute. Shadow Stalker just shrugged and my dad stayed silent. I turned to Cheshire and nodded to her, kneeling down a little to let her climb on before grabbing the other three with my magic. I turned around and started to fly, the branches of the tree parting to make for me. After I deposited the three on the ground, I turned to fly higher into the sky to get a good look on the city below us. But the moment I evened out, Cheshire leaned forward and began to speak into my ear.

"Now," she began. "Tell me exactly what you agreed to with the villains."


	63. Chapter 63

"How could he be nowhere?" Cheshire asked as she burst through the front door of the tree in a rare burst of annoyance from her. Desh, Imp, and Shadow Stalker were already back for the day, apparently finding just as little as we had.

And it was a bit frustrating. We had spent the whole day combing every inch of the city. There was criminal activity here and there, but it was common thugs and old E88 loyalists struggling to remain relevant. Neither The Merchants, Coil, or ABB were doing anything overt. And even if they had, the longer running plan Cheshire and I had come up with for them did involve stopping their petty crimes.

But Cheshire seemed more annoyed that there was no sign of Will. Or, rather from what I can tell, there were too many. She had come up with a dozen different theories, all of them contradicting the other. That was probably the most frustrating thing about it, but I was more annoyed by the lack of productivity that annoyed me. But until we got Will, we couldn't move against the gangs.

"No luck either?" Imp asked idly. She was lying lazily on a couch that had appeared in the main room since we were last here.

"No," Cheshire responded sourly, pulling her mask off as she walked forward. "And I know he is here! Somewhere, anyway. He wouldn't leave, and there have been sightings from certain people. But no matter what, I just can't pin it down."

"Sounds like he is up to something," Desh said, rising from his seat. He pulled his bandana down to expose a deep frown before saying, "I'll leave you girls to figuring that out though, don't think I would be much help." I wanted to say something in response to that, but he was already walking towards his room without another word.

I noticed Lisa looking between him and me with a troubled look before she shook her head and pressed forward.

"If he is up to something, I don't know what and it bothers me."

"I think you worry too much," Aisha said, removing her mask and twirling it around on her finger.

Lisa's frown deepened. "Maybe," she stated in a way that made it clear she didn't quite believe it.

"Well, maybe we should turn in for the night." I suggested with a sigh. As much as I really wanted to find Will, it was getting late and we've made no progress. It… was somewhat troubling. Will would have a plan, and since as far as I'm aware he hasn't been captured, his plan must be working. Though that just means his plan involves avoiding us.

If I found him there is going to be a serious conversation about that.

"No," Lisa said, straighten up and shaking her head clear. "We've got a few things to talk about." She looked around at me, Shadow Stalker, and Aisha. "Can you get Amy?" she asked, turning to me. "She should be apart of this."

I nodded silently and looked upwards. I stretched out my wings and flew upwards, getting to her room in seconds despite the height of the tree. Wings were nice.

I knocked and waited. When she didn't answer I knocked again. Like before, no answer.

I carefully opened the door and peered inside. Amy was right where we left her, not having moved an inch.

"Amy?" I asked. "Amy, are you awake?" Just like before, her lips were moving but she wasn't saying anything. Carefully, I wrapped Amy in my magic and lifted her out of her chair slowly. Even after being completely removed from the tree it took several seconds for her to realize where she was.

She blinked several times and rubbered her eyes as they began to water, making me realize just how bloodshot they were. She hadn't been blinking.

"Amy? Are you okay?" I asked, alarmed. But she waved me off.

"I'm fine. Fine. Just… fine." She took a deep breath and squeezed her eyes shut. I couldn't exactly tell, but her breath sounded a bit… shaky to me.

"Was there something you needed," she asked me plainly, shooting me a look I couldn't quite read.

"Lisa and I are calling a meeting for the five of us. She wanted you there but…" I looked her up and down and decided not to voice what I was thinking.

"I'm fine," she responded flatly. "I'll be done in a minute just… give a bit to finish what I was doing."

"Alright. If you say so." I gave her a long, critical look. Trying to see if there was going to be any give in her defence, but no such luck. With a sigh, I turned and walked out. Something was going to have to be done for her soon, I just wasn't quite sure what.

I made my way back down the ramp of the tree instead of flying. While my wings were seemingly powered by my magic to some degree, they could still get a little tired with all the flying I've been doing. At least they don't get sore, otherwise I would have been immobile after the Endbringer fight.

The others were already gathered, except for my father. Leaving Lisa, Ashia, and Sophia. Lisa smiled and rubbed her hands together happily.

"Alright, we can finally get this thing started. So, the first order of business, Taylor made a deal with super villains and now we have to interpret those terms rather liberally." She glanced at me for a moment, then continued. "Okay, so first is a small issue with drugs. Taylor got Lung and Coil to agree to stop selling and distributing drugs, but that means that the Merchants operate without competition now, so we are going to be seeing a brief boom in drugs if we don't do something. Now, we can't do anything outright, but say there were a few of us that were good at stealth, or really good at knowing the best hiding places, we could sabotage it in other ways. Maybe even pose as a vigilante hero."

"Wait, slow down." Sophia said, raising a hand. "Taylor made a deal with the villains? What kind of deal?"

I sighed. "I help them decide how the freed territory would be divided, then promised to help keep the peace to prevent a gang war."

"You know that the PRT is going to have a field day the moment they find out right?"

"Right," Lisa answered for me. "Which is why we need to move fast. We need to make some sort of statement before tomorrow afternoon. That is about how long it's going to take Coil and or Lung to feel organize and secure enough to start leaking the details. If we need to, Taylor and I can make a half decent speech to get the point across. But if we got Will we could probably knock this right out of the park."

"He probably already left this fucking city," Aisha supplied, lounging lazily in her chair. "I mean, why stay?"

"He is here," Lisa said flatly, a slight frown on her face. "I just can't figure out where."

"If you say so."

"I do. Now, after things settle down, we need to think of a long-term strategy. Now, we're sitting pretty good to take out all the major players, but only if we're careful."

"What are you thinking?" I asked.

"Calculated strikes," she answered immediately. "We hit them where it hurts, let the Protectorate move in and make the arrest, keep the rest of the gang down in the meantime."

"You think the Protectorate could do its job?" I asked with a frown. Their attack on me and my friends lingered in the back of my mind.

"No, but if the prisoner breaks out and doesn't resurface because, oh I don't know, we have them locked up in Amy's secret tree dungeon, then no one is any the wiser for it."

"I don't have a tree dungeon," Amy stated suddenly. I turned and saw her stepping off the ramp with freshly combed hair and her eyes a little less bloodshot and puffy. "Not yet, anyway."

"Amy," I said with a smile. "Do we need to catch you up on-"

"I'm good. I heard you through the tree." She said the last part a little wistfully. I shot a glance at Lisa. She had a troubled look on her face that couldn't spell anything good.

"Anyway," Lisa continued, prying her eyes away from Amy, "The Merchants should be first. They're the most unpredictable and likely to cause trouble. Then Coil, he is a schemer and has a lot of plans. If we catch him during a time when powers a shifting, like when the Merchants are taken out, then he could be off balanced enough for us to take him down pretty easily. Final Lung, which is the tricky one. Lung wants to pick a fight with the strongest people in the city. For the longest time, that was the Empire. Fighting the Teeth will keep him occupied for now, but it won't last. And very quickly he'll realize there is only one person in this city worth fighting." Her eyes settled on me.

"I should have expected that," I said sadly. Lisa nodded in agreement.

"I already have a few ideas on where to start, but we're going to need some recon. Sophia, Aisha? You game?"

"Sure," Aisha said with a shrug. "These video games are getting a little old anyway." Sophia, for her part, just nodded silently and went to grab her stuff. Lisa turned back towards me with a smile on her face.

"Alright, so how about you, Amy, and I all go and-"

Suddenly, there was a knock on the massive front door. The five of us froze and looked towards it. After a moment I started to walk towards it, giving the others enough time to get their masks on if they wanted to. I heard Lisa mutter something behind me, something along the lines of, 'Don't like where this is going.'

I grabbed the door with my magic and began hauling it open. It took a moment, but Quatumlock and Whiplash were revealed to be standing on the other side.

"Hey there," Whiplash said easily. "The Teeth are stirring up some ruckus on the other side of town and were wondering if you wanted to come along." The exposed half of her face split into a grin. "You know, keep up with your side of the bargain and what not?"


	64. Chapter 64

I followed Quantumlock and Whiplash by flying low to the ground behind their motorcycles. Unfortunately, Amy decided to stay behind and told us she would keep watch through the tree. So for the moment, it was just Cheshire and I. Shadow Stalker and Imp went off to do the recon Cheshire wanted on the other villains. Leaving just the two of us.

I was expecting to be taken to some location where there was a fight, then we could ambush them there. But no, they got the drop on us while Cheshire and I were talking about future plans out of earshot of Whiplash and Quatum.

Flying this low to the ground, I couldn't evade that four-legged dog-like creature the leapt from a rooftop and tackled me out of the air. I felt Cheshire and the creature going flying as I spun out of control. A moment before I hit the ground I closed my eyes and teleported several meters higher, righting myself in the process.

Animos. One of the Teeth that turned into a weird dog beast. I vaguely remember there being something about a scream, but if it came to that I would just suck the air out from around him. I was turning towards were Cheshire was wrestling with the dog, benefiting from Amy's upgrades, when suddenly three men appeared. Then fifteen of them a second later, all clones. Spree.

Whiplash kicked into action, revving up her motorcycle and pressing a button on it. Two long blades popped out of the sides of the front tire and began whirling rapidly even before she sped forward. Clones ran around her and towards Quantumlock, who just raised his hand lazily and flicked it to the side. Half of them went flying off in that direction.

I zeroed in on the hound, grabbing him with my magic and started to lift him off the ground. He was heavier than expected, but not unreasonably so. That was, until something else hit me. I went spinning as something bit into my wing. I threw up a shield and attempted to straighten myself, only for something else to hit my shield.

I got control of my flight enough to turn and see Butcher standing on top of a building right before she teleported away. That was going to be a problem.

I whirled to try and find where she went as I pulled out the arrow in my wing, but she found me first. Striking my shield again with her bow. Only this time, I managed to wrap her in my magic and lift her off the ground. A moment later she teleported away. I turned in the direction of the following the sound of her explosion where ever she appeared next.

I spotted her on a rooftop not far, moving to pull back the string on her massive bow again. I didn't give her the chance before teleporting over to her. Suddenly, she whirled and struck one of my wings with a kick, her super strength making it feel like a sledgehammer had been taken to my joints.

Butcher teleported before the pain from her blow even begun to set in. All at once, I floated out a healing potion and fired a kinetic beam in the direction of the next explosion from her teleport. I saw her struck in the shoulder and getting sent flying before she teleported again. This time I teleported to meet her, my shield between me and her.

The edge of my shield pressed her into the roof. She attempted to lift my shield, to throw it off her. But my wings were more than enough to keep my steady against her. She paused for a moment, as if she was trying to do something I was unaware of. Then she teleported again.

Again, I fired a beam directly where she was teleporting to but she managed to dodge it and fire an arrow at me, already moving to teleport as she did. I caught it with my magic and threw it away before teleporting to where she was.

She was gone by the time I got there, the flames of her previous teleport still in the air where she had been. From where I was, I could already see the flames coming from her new location. I teleported again, gaining the same result. Arriving just moments before she had left and spotting where she was appearing elsewhere.

We did this three or four more times. The half second in between us teleporting and arriving at our destination being the only thing keeping one of us from out running the other. We were getting nowhere fast.

Suddenly, when I teleported into a place an arrow buried itself in my chest, catching me off guard. Suddenly, Butcher tackled me off the building and we went sailing down.

I had a few moments before we hit the ground to collect myself and realize what just happened. As soon as I figured that out, I had an idea. Then I teleported the two off us into the ocean.

Immediately, Butcher held on to my right wing as I attempted to fly over the water. But between her and the pain flaring up from the arrow in my chest it was impossible for me to stay flying. So instead I dropped, kicking at her with a hind hoof the whole way down. But her strength was more than enough to let her hang I felt my bones snap under her grip.

I had less painful injuries fighting the Simurgh.

The best I was able to accomplish against her was rolling so she took the brunt of the fall when we hit the water. The water was freezing, and the pain I was feeling from my wing and chest were becoming overwhelming as the pain set in. My focus was scattered, I couldn't get the image of where I needed to teleport to appear in my head. I attempted to blast Butcher with one of my beams, but I couldn't see well enough to. My injuries began to sting badly in the saltwater. I really needed to get out of this.

I squeezed my eyes shut and willed myself to calm down. I didn't need to see, I had magic. Letting it flow out of me, I began to get a better feeling for what was happening in the water, including the amount of blood I had lost in it.

Carefully, I wrapped myself and Butcher in my telekinesis and lifted us from the water and into the air. With a hoof, I wiped the water from my eyes and glared back at the Butcher were she was still struggling to hang on even as I was trying to rip her off.

I couldn't hurt her, not with the firepower I was packing. And I didn't want to kill her and risk having those voices move to me, if they could at all. But short of teleporting to the Protectorate and letting them handle it when I was injured and bleeding, I was limited in what I could do. Which meant it was time for the little contingency Cheshire and Panacea made for this exact person.

Very carefully, keeping Butcher from being able to move even if I couldn't force her grip open, I reached into my bag and pulled out a black bottle.

The logic Amy had used when making it was simple. If magic could give little flowers like daisies and dandelions certain powers, then surely it could do the same with a poisonous flower or berry.

I uncapped the bottle, floated the liquid out, and forced it between Butcher's lips.

She coughed and gagged a moment after it went down and then looked at me, wide-eyed behind the mask.

"What was that?" She rasped.

"Buttercups." I answered honestly. Then her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. I let out a heavy sigh of relief and took out three healing potions I had. I slugged down the first two, then painfully tore the arrow out of my chest and chugging the third before the pain of doing could overwhelm me.

Tentatively, I attempted to try and fly again, but the strain was too much for my wings. I picked myself back up in my magic and teleported back to the shore.

As soon as I could, I dropped all four hooves to the ground and cut all my magic. The sheer amount I had to use to teleport out into the ocean and back while lifting myself and Butcher had left me alarmingly low. Or at least, much lower than I should have been. I really needed to get some more heavy hitting spells on hand.

I pulled out one of the few magic restoring potions I had on hand and took a few. They helped, but they didn't seem to restore very much. Barely added to my reserves at all. I'd have to try and use gemstones from here on out to conserve what I had.

Suddenly, a massive crystal root erupted from the ground and coiled around me in a wide circle. I watched it for a moment, wondering what Amy was up to. Then, slowly the tip of the root extended outward and reached out to me like an open palm.

"You… want Butcher?" I asked slowly. No response. After a moment, I lifted Butcher and placed her on the root. Crystal plant matter suddenly expanded and wrapped around her, encasing completely and shielding her from my view before root uncoiled and shrank beneath the surface. Taking Butcher with it.

"Well, I guess that solves one problem," I stated while I rubbed the back of my head with a hoof. That was all really… weird. I'd have to ask Amy about it later. But for now, it was about time I got back to my friends.


	65. Chapter 65

The fighting had moved since I left to chase after Butcher, putting them near a warehouse two or three blocks away from where we were ambushed. Whiplash and Quantumlock were standing back to back attempting to deal with Spree and Hemorrhagia as the clones keep pushing in around them and Hemorrhagia attacked them out of range with her blood kinesis. A could have sworn there were other members, but they weren't here. And neither were the hero's, oddly enough. But it was only a matter of time, I had to end this before that happened.

Standing on the roof and looking down, I gave my wing a tentative stretch. It was still too sensitive to put my full weight on for flight and I didn't want to tap into my limited supply of healing potions when I didn't need to. That made my teleportation my only mode of travel for now after having used most of my magic to take down Butcher. I weighed my options.

Then Cheshire and the dog that tackled her off my back the first time came rolling out of the warehouse, smashing down part of the wall in the process as they fought with each other.

Cheshire was in bad shape. Amy's upgrades had kept her alive, but it wasn't enough. She was bleeding, bruised and beaten. The worst of it probably happening right after I left.

I reacted without thinking, firing a kinetic beam down at the dog creature from where I was. The energy lanced out and struck the creature in the side, throwing it off for a moment. Then there was a shimmering in my vision.

The next time I move I realized what was happening. Vex, the ability to make razor sharp force fields. Of course, I only realized that after I had back away from the ones created directly in front of me and into the ones behind me. Immediately force fields on all sides of me cut into my hide and made me bleed. I almost attempted to turn my head to try to find Vex, but stopped myself before I could. Good thing too, as a moment later I noticed a tiny force field next to my eye. She was surrounding me.

I closed my eyes and teleported down below to where Cheshire was right as the dog creature let out a howl. Without even thinking about it, I reared up and struck the thing in the head with my front hooves. It recoiled from the hit before immediately backing away and growling at me as it retreated. I took a moment and floated out a healing potion for Cheshire as I watched it.

She took it eagerly and drank in whole within a few seconds, her cuts and bruises disappearing almost immediately.

"Ah, that is so much better," she said with a grin. "Now get yourself one, he isn't going to try anything with you here." I looked between Cheshire and the dog creature for a moment, but it wasn't moving, just standing tense. Like it could attack at any moment. I decided to take her word for it and reached for my own potion.

"Vex is here too, somewhere." I told Cheshire as I took off the cap. I upturned the bottle and felt the few dozen stinging cuts all over my body seal shut.

"Not good," Cheshire stated. Turning and surveying the fighting going on. I kept a close watch on the dog creature as she did. It was watching us intensely, but not moving. "We need to get Whiplash and Quantum out of there. Spree is keeping them-" She was cut off when at that moment the dog lunged at me. Unfortunately, my magic was faster than it was. I grabbed onto a ruby in my bag and used the magic stored inside it to summon fire to the tip of my horn, releasing it in a wave of heat forward. The flames struck the dog hard enough to knock it out of the air and send it tumbling. I summoned more flame to follow up when the dog rolled to its feet and started running away. I mentally struggled to stop the original flame spell and replace it with a more concentrated version. A moment later, a solid beam of heat and flame exploded from my horn, lancing across its hindside before it ducked around the corner and disappeared from view. The ruby I was drawing from shattered and turned to dust.

I turned and saw Quantum and Whiplash fighting as hard as ever to keep Spree and Hemorrhagia back, but even as they did I noticed dozens of little force fields popping up all around them. They were running out of time.

"Into the warehouse," Cheshire told me. "We can limited Vex's line of sight and the number of directions the others can come. Be quick about it." As soon as she finished telling me, she spun on her heels and darted through the gap she and Animos created in their fight.

I pulled out another gem and held it up and prepared to use it. I teleported right next to Whiplash and Quantum and didn't hesitate to set it off.

A massive cloud of mist exploded out of the gem, blanketing the area and removing Spree and Hemorrhagia from sight. Taking us out of their sight as well. Before the other two had any time to really process what just happened, I grabbed them both with my magic and teleported us into the warehouse.

I immediately stumbled. The amount of magic I had left me a little light headed for a few seconds. I could only use a little more before the head ache set in. And after that, total magic burn out that no one wanted to see happen. I floated out what magic enhancing bottles I had and slugged them down.

"Alright," I said as soon as I had the last one down. I looked at Cheshire and asked, "What's the situation?"

"The four of them are pulling back and regrouping for a minute," she answered immediately. "I think the plan was to get Butcher to weaken you enough that the other members could take you out, but they didn't expect you to actually beat her like you did."

"Alright," I said with a quick nod. "Where are the heroes at?"

"Dealing with the other three members of The Teeth that attacked Showman and Vibrasonic. One of the other villains in the city showed up and threw everything into chaos. We have sometime before that gets resolved, but I don't know how long."

"Then we need to finish this up." I stated seriously, looking towards the cloud of mist that was still rolling around the area just outside. I pulled more gems from my bag. Several rubies, a few sapphires, some diamonds, and a lot of quartz. I was debating how I was going to use them as I considered the Lenses Cheshire and I had put on them when The Teeth struck again.

This time, they attacked all at once. More than a dozen of Spree's clones charged forward alongside Animos's dog form. Hemorrhagia rode on Animos' back, blood blades around each finger and harden scabs that acted as armour over her skin. No sign of Vex accept for the tiny razor shields appearing around us.

Quantumlock raise a hand upward, causing a half of the clones to fly towards the ceiling. briefly wondered if he was limited by number or mass before turning my attention back to the fight. Whiplash turned one arm into a long red tendril of energy that lashed out and struck the clones lifted into the air, making them burst into flame a moment later.

"Nova, shield!" Cheshire called. I pulled two quartz stones close to me and activated the magic inside them. With their assistance, I raised a shield around the four of us. They didn't stop Vex from summoning her razor shields near us, but Cheshire went around systematically smashing individual razors with her pseudo Brute powers. I guessed they weren't as strong individually as they were collectively.

Animos lunged and crashed against my shield, let Hemorrhagia jump onto the top and repeatedly strike the top with her blood blades. I used my telekinesis and threw Animos away, letting Whiplash strike at Hemorrhagia with a blue tendril made of her other arm. There was a crack of electricity where it struck the blades, but she had already abandoned the blood weapons and was darting backwards.

Once again, Quantumlock was doing his best to keep tossing the clones aside as they charged forward. But as soon as he dispatched some more would take their place. Their feet stirring of the yellow mist that was crawling across the ground.

Wait, yellow mist?

I looked around for a moment even as Animos and Hemorrhagia moved in for another attack. All around us the room was filling full of yellowish gas, kept at bay by the edge of my shield. It took me several moments to locate the source of it, and several moments after that for it to register what exactly I had been looking at.

Kindle Gas.

As soon as it registered someone lit the fire.

Hemorrhagia had been leaping through the air just before everything went up in flames and she disappeared in bright orange and red flames. The heat generated from the flash fire made its way through my shield, turning up the temperature to uncomfortable levels a few moment before the fire dissipated.

Hemorrhagia and Animos were gone, the less said the better. There was no evidence of Spree or Vex being caught in the fire. That was, until a few dozen men in grey and blue uniforms came shuffling around the corner carrying an unconscious man and a severely wounded woman.

"Tut, tut, tut," a male voice said from behind us. "I told you to aim for the head! Vex can seriously screw us over my little minions."

I turned and looked at where the voice was coming from, and to see what kind of person says 'tut, tut, tut'. It was a man, dressed in the most stereotypical magician's costume ever, with a domino mask covering his face. He turned and grinned directly at me.

"Well, that is a problem for another time," he said dismissively before giving an exaggerated bow. "I am Vaudevillian, and these are the Sapient. Survivors of the failed organization of the Sentient. They're well trained, disciplined, really don't like the PRT and have a talent for killing capes. The perfect policing force for Brockton Bay! And I, Vaudevillian, will lead them in the wonderful name of Nova."

Wait a moment… I recognized that monologuing!

"Will?" I choked.

His grin widened. 


	66. Chapter 66

"Please, Vaudevillian is the name." Will, er, Vaudevillian said with his goofy grin. Whiplash looked between him and us for a moment and shook her head.

"You two know each other?" She asked. Before I could answer Vaudevillian spun on his heel and bowed directly to her.

"Why yes, yes we do. I'm friend number four in Nova's group of trouble making rapscallions. Now, question. Would you pick a card?" He pulled a deck of cards out of his sleeve and splayed them out to Whiplash. I saw an amused smirk tug at the edges of her lips before she reached forward and drew a card. He grinned at her before flipping the deck over the reveal them all to be the same card.

"Was this your card?" He asked.

"No," she answered, turning the card around to reveal the ace of spades. A look of confusion passed over Vaudevillain's face.

"Wait, what?" He asked, examining his deck a little close

"I always keep a few aces up my sleeve," Whiplash answered, flicking her hand upward and revealing four more cards. Three aces and the queen Vaude had given her.

He clasped a hand over his chest and threw his head back dramatically.

"Ah! Foiled again! Quick men, time for our timely escape!" He raised his hand up and I had a moment to see a little glass ball before he threw it on the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. A second later all the apparent Sapient members and followed his lead, filling the building up with the smoke that made a few of us cough. I flapped my wings a little to help clear the smoke and perhaps exactly as expected, they were gone.

"Where'd they go?" Quantumlock asked.

"I always thought those trap doors the Sentient used were weird," Cheshire said loudly enough to hear.

Then, Vaudevillian's muffled voice floated up from underneath us. "I can hear spoiling my secrets up there Cheshire and it is not appreciated!"

Whiplash stifled a giggle as Vaudevillian presumably darted away using his underground tunnels.

"I like him," Whiplash said with a grin.

"He gets old fast," Cheshire said dryly, but she was smiling.

"Well, its been fun and all," Quatumlock said, stepping forward. "But we ought to go help the other half of our team. Showman's probably made the other Teeth either gay or caused them to cringe so hard they broke."

"You think you guys can handle that?" Cheshire asked, whipping out a phone and beginning to do some work on it. "We need to catch up to Vaudevillain and talk to him for a bit.

"Eh, shouldn't be a problem," Whiplash said with a shrug before cracking her knuckles with a grin.

"Good," Cheshire answered, then looked up at me. "Nova, home please."

"I'm not a taxi you know," I grumbled kneeling on the ground for her to climb on.

"Of course not," she answered and she slid onto my back and patting the side of my neck affectionately. "Taxi's can't fly."

I shot her a sour look to counter her vaguely amused look. She wasn't looking as amused when I took off the ground as fast as I possibly could, leaving an afterimage as I did.

***

The upper branches of the tree parted to let me land as I came in. Cheshire was moving to get off my back before I even landed.

Walking into the tree, I was able to see Will lounging on the couch down below. Mask off and television on. How he got here before we did? I didn't know. I decided not think about it or I was going to get a headache. And if that doesn't perfectly describe Will's impact on my life, I don't know what does.

Cheshire went on ahead of me as I walked down down the spiral ramp towards the lower floor. But on my way, I notice my father's door cracked open slightly. Was he back already?

Carefully, I nudged it open and peered inside. He was there alright, packing a suitcase full of his stuff.

"Dad?" I asked in alarm, stepping into the room. He whirled around to face me and his eyes widened.

"Taylor, I, er…"

"Dad, what are you doing," I asked, motioning with my head at his bags. Whatever confidence he still possessed faltered.

"I'm… I'm sorry Taylor, but I'm leaving."

"You're what?" I asked, practically rearing back in disbelief. My dad took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh.

"Taylor, I just… I just can't stay here for much longer. I'm kind of useless you know, and don't say I'm not." He added that last bit just as I was opening my mouth to protest. He shook his head.

"Look, Taylor. You don't need me. You've got your own home, two of them actually, powerful friends, and maybe even the city if what I've heard from you and Cheshire is true. Me? I don't have a job with the Dockworkers Union anymore, if there even is much of a dock left. You don't need me to provide anything for you. So… I leaving for New York. State, that is, not the city. Maybe after this conflict between you and the Protectorate cools down I'll get a job with them or something. But you don't need me."

"You're my father," I said quietly. "Of course I need you." He gave me this sad smile and shook his head.

"No, you don't."

"But what about… Amy?" I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for excuses here, but I was almost speechless, completely blindsided by the events.

"Amy's a nice girl, but she is having some other issues now. Issues I think it'll be best if you use that 'pony therapy' power Will likes to talk about."

"Then what about Will?" I asked, a hint of desperation creeping into my voice despite me attempting to stifle it. My dad just shook his head.

"I'm sorry Taylor, again, but this life isn't for me. I wish you the best of luck in what you're going to do, but I've made my choice. I'm going to finish packing and I'll be on my way."

He strode forward and gave me a hug while I was still paralyzed with the news. Then he turned and continued to put clothing into his suitcase. My eyes wide and uncomprehending, I stumbled out of the room with my mind racing at a thousand miles a minute.

"Nova? Nova? Taylor?" I was only shaken out of my daze when Will clapped his hands in front of me. I looked down at him with wide eyes as I continued to reel.

"You gave the PRT more than a full day to prepare their statements and create the narrative they want to? Have you learned nothing?" Will said, practically freaking out. "The first to create a narrative makes the narrative, and we are sorely behind. And this deal with the villains? Are you crazy, we need to get on top of this before we lose all credibility."

I blinked then shook my head. There were… more important things to deal with right now. More important than my father moving away and… I needed to focus. I needed to get the situation under wraps.

"What do I need to do," I asked, turning to face Will directly. He stumbled back a moment, thrown off by my sudden recovery.

"Well, first things first," he began, dusting himself off. "You need to decide what you want the new status quo to be, how we're going to enforce it and what not. Then you need to make a speech about it, maybe accept interviews and various other things. If you want the PRT to be involved in-"

"I don't," I snapped as a flare of anger rose in my chest. "Can this city survive without any PRT, period?" That took Will back a bit.

"Well, maybe? I think so, anyway. Your issue wouldn't be with the PRT but rather the rest of the American government. But these Sentient members I scavenged can be an effective police force for now, and us six can be all the cape muscle we need to put the other gangs down. If that still is what you want. If you can keep the American military at bay on the basis of this being a cape take over then… yeah, probably."

"Then that's what we'll do," I stated firmly, planting a hoof on the ground. A wave of anger washed over me and I felt my magic respond. I looked around the area. I had wandered downstairs and now everyone was looking at me. Cheshire, Shadow Stalker, Will, and Imp. I glanced up and to my shock, I saw tired and dishevelled Amy looking down from the ramp above.

These were all my friends through various mean. Will came to me loyal to the idea he could do good. Cheshire and I came together because of her ability to discern the truth of things, even if she has hidden it from me from time to time. Amy who was so dedicated to the idea of generosity she was running herself into the ground for it. Imp, not wanting to be under anyone's thumb so she could laugh and joke as she pleased, with me giving her the space she wanted. And Shadow Stalker, she was here because she likes my power and I let her stay so she can't distribute that twisted form of kindness she believes in.

What a mess. But I was glad to have them.

I start flapping my wings and flying upward.

"Wait," Will called. "Where are you going?"

"To make a speech!" I answered.

"But I already wrote some speeches! And you haven't practised!"

"I'll improvise," I growled bitterly. I glanced at Amy as I passed. She was staring at me wide-eyed with dark circles beginning to form on her face.

"Amy," I asked. "Do you think you can build a wall?"


End file.
